CAMDEN — The schooner Appledore II left its home port in Camden on Sunday, Nov. 9, bound for the warmer waters of Key West, Florida. The Appledore II will spend the winter months in the tropical waters before returning to Camden in June of to begin another summer sailing season.

This trip will mark the 51st time the Appledore II  has sailed to Key West from Camden.

At 86 feet in length, the Appledore II was built for heavy offshore adventuring. Her builder, Herb Smith, of Boothbay, sailed the Appledore on an 18-month journey — and her maiden voyage — around the world in 1978.

Sturdy and strong, the Appledore has been chronicled in two books and been the subject of many photographs and films.

The Appledore II is one of five schooners all built by Smith and all named Appledore. When in Camden, the Appledore II ties up at Bay View Wharf in front of Peter Otts and the Grand Harbor Inn. The schooner makes day sails four times a day in the summer. In Florida, the boat does two trips a day that include a sail to offer tourists a view of the famous Key West sunsets.

John and Jane McKean, of Camden, have owned the Appledore II since 1987 and have operated the boat for the past 27 years.

As John McKean is fond of saying, “we are under old management.”