ROCKLAND — The sloop Heritage, a once familiar sight on Penobscot Bay, has returned home. After years of being homesick and neglected she is now in the hands of Captain Neal Parker who, after much renovation, has placed her in the day charter business out of Rockland. The sloop will offer sailing to small parties that prefer having a classic yacht to themselves

“I am offering a limo as opposed to the mass transit experience,” said Parker, about his new venture.

In December of last year Parker sold his ketch Prudence and purchased the Heritage, sight unseen, from an owner in faraway Alabama. He did not want to see it rot.

“Once in a while you have to do something unadvisable,” he said. “She was down there not sailed, sitting at a dock for three years, decaying fast. I had in my hands a survey that was done just before the Heritage left Maine. Studying that combined with recent photos I could readily tell where the boat’s problems would be. I calculated the sloop’s condition by using my rough formula: a year in southern waters was equal to four years in Maine. When the Heritage arrived here by truck at the end of January I could see my guestimate was spot on.”

The 30-foot yacht Heritage was launched in 1962. Elmer Collemer, last of the old timers, built her in his barn on Cross Street, Camden, for the commodore of the Friendship Sloop Society, though she really isn’t a Friendship Sloop at all.

The Murray Peterson design is a rich mix of traditional American working craft, taking her profile and detailing from the much larger windjammer schooners. In fact, the vessel was so highly detailed that Collemer once complained, in the time it’s taken me to make the rails I could have built a whole Friendship sloop! It was a statement especially poignant because Collemer, well past 80 years of age, usually worked alone.

In the 1980s, the Heritage changed hands with the passing of her owner. She continued to sail in Maine until an unfortunate incident. In 2002 the sloop tore from her mooring and was wrecked on a nearby ledge. She was considered a total loss to all but one man who purchased the broken vessel. He had her bottom completely rebuilt by a yard in Newcastle.

The work included new keel, frames and planking up to the waterline. The project, which took years, finally saw the revived Heritage sailing by 2006. Surprisingly, after a number of years, the Heritage changed hands again. This time her home was to be Fairhope, Alabama. The new owner sailed her several times but then, for reasons unknown, left her tied to the dock. Without constant maintenance and care a wooden boat deteriorates quickly. The Heritage, now 50 years old, would not endure this neglect for long.

Parker spotted the sloop for sale online he knew the asking price was too much. Despite that he made a bid which was flatly refused. However two weeks later the boat’s owner emailed to say he had reconsidered and would accept the offer. Crazy as it sounds that’s when Parker lowered the amount he was willing to pay, having had time to consider the sloop’s value and the cost of trucking. The owner refused but within an hour emailed back to say his wife told him to get rid of the boat.

This was not the first major wooden boat project for Parker. He restored the 67-foot Alden schooner Wendameen. That vessel, was completely rebuilt from 1986 to 1990 from the keel up. Parker, who performed much of the work himself, sailed her in the Maine windjammer service for many years.

“Fortunately, the Heritage didn’t require as much work as the Wendameen to get her going again,” Parker said. “She was in generally good shape with some structural issues above the deck needing immediate attention plus cosmetics… lots of cosmetics!”

Working outside this past cold winter, Parker was at it seven days a week to get the Heritage ready for this spring. In late May the vessel was launched and after several days of rigging Parker and his 12 year-old daughter Annabel took their new craft out for a shakedown.

“It blew hard and we pushed the sloop to the limit with water flying up over the rails,” he said. “If anything was going to go wrong it would have happened that day.”

Now the Heritage is ready to earn her keep. She will sail from Rockland this summer offering cruises to private parties of up to six people. Parker has a website for the sloop: www.mainecoastsail.com.

Parker is also preparing to publish a new book this summer, and is working on manuscripts. See annabelbooks.com.