Maine’s Schooner Bowdoin readies for sail to Newfoundland, Nova Scotia
Filmmaker Terry Boivin recently spent time recording the final preparations of the schooner Bowdoin prior to an upcoming voyage to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.
The Bowdoin, a student-sailing vessel home-ported in Castine and owned and operated by Maine Maritime Academy, will be leaving June 4. The Bowdoin is the official vessel of the state of Maine, and the flagship of Maine Maritime Academy’s Vessel Operations and Technology Program.
The schooner was launched in 1921 as a specially designed Arctic exploration vessel for Donald B. MacMillan. Bowdoin was acquired by Maine Maritime Academy in the late 1980s and soon after was designated a National Historic Landmark and the Official Vessel of the State of Maine.
The ship has made 28 trips above the Arctic Circle; 25 under the command of MacMillan and three captained by Academy faculty and staff. Students in MMA's Vessel Operations and Technology (VOT), Small Vessel Operations (SVO), and other programs navigate and maintain the 88-foot tall ship as part of their at-sea training.
Every summer, the Bowdoin takes students up and down the eastern seaboard, and she spends the fall doing day sails and weekend trips from MMA’s waterfront in Castine.
The 2018 schedule is as follows:
- June 4: Departure for CR-214 bound for ports in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland
- June 7: Arrive in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
- June 9: Depart Lunenburg for Ingonish, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia
- June 12: Arrive in Ingonish Hbr
- June 13: Depart Ingonish Hbr for Burgeo, Newfoundland
- June 14: Arrive in Burgeo
- June 16: Depart Burgeo for Francois, Newfoundland
- June 18: Depart Francois for Englishtown, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia
- June 19: Arrive in Englishtown
- June 20: Depart Englishtown to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
- June 22: Arrive Lunenburg
- June 23/24: Depart Lunenburg for U.S.A.
- June 27: Arrive Mount Desert Island
- June 28 – July 7: Cruising Penobscot Bay
- July 7: Return to Castine, End of CR-214
- July 25-26: Junior Safety at sea program (tentative)
- August 12 – 27: CR-313 Training Cruise
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