This coming weekend it's Labor Day and Gloucester is hosting the 25th annual
Schooner Festival.
We'll be out there cruisin' with camera in hand... But Labor Day is also our informal end of Summer - darn it all.
At the same time the 'Spirit of Massachusetts' (125 feet and 100+ tons) has come into Gloucester for a complete refit. She is classified as a
Sailing School Vessel (SSV) and is certified to make worldwide voyages. Therefore she must be inspected
annually by the United States Coast Guard, and this may include lifting the masts out for a thorough integrity check on the ground :
Photo: Gloucester harbor, Sep.1,2009
It's fascinating to watch the complicated rigging being removed from the vessel, before the tricky mast lift out is tackled. Then it's truly amazing to see it all going back in place. But a shipwright told me that "they label everything on the way out!"
Here she is under full sail, out in Massachusetts Bay, making her way into Boston which is her hail port (home port):
Photo: Courtesy Thad Koza May.2009
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This sailing vessel was constructed at the Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston, in 1984. It used the same 'scantlings' (materials and design rules) as the hundreds of fishing schooners built in the shipyards of Essex, MA, in the early 1900s. Basically, it's thick oak planking on stout frames - for a "fast and able" schooner.
Why are these magnificient sailing vessels called
schooners? Well, the first vessel
called a schooner, in the USA, was built by Andrew Robinson and launched in 1713 in Gloucester. A friend exclaimed "oh how she scoons" - scoon being a Scottish word describing skimming over the water. Robinson replied: "Then a schooner let her be!"
But actually 'schooners' were first used by the Dutch in the 16th century and
the 'sch' spelling derives from this source.
The basic sailplan for a
gaff rigged schooner is shown in
this semi-silhouette view:
The sails are named, from the bowsprit on the left, as follows:
stay, jib, fore main, top, and main.
Some schooners have more complicated rigs with an additional stay sail and top gaff sail(s) - for example the 'Massachusetts' in the photo above.
A schooner has at least two raked masts with the foremast most often being shorter than the mainmast.
Then topmasts are added to allow a higher sail area for increased "power"; which, with an able skipper, may translate
to a higher speed through the water - but basic hydrodynamics dictates that the speed is limited by the
length of the hull at the waterline.
The distinctive 'gaff' is the boom (spar) on the upper section of a mast. It is hoisted into position with a
'throat halyard' and then the angle, relative to the mast, is adjusted with a 'peak halyard' - to trim the sail
to match prevailing wind conditions and the point of sail. This may be considered a complication for general sail
handling, but it's outweighed by the versatility of the balanced sailplan.
Fishing schooners out of Gloucester
were designed to "go fast". After a successful trip, getting back
to port ahead of the rest of the fleet was a big advantage for selling, and making a profit on, the catch.
The schooner races this weekend are a wonderful reminder of the glory days for these classic, working, sailing vessels.