September 8, 2015 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — The following was released by the Working Waterfront Festival:
Adventure completes first public sailing season in a quarter century NEW BEDFORD, MA— The public will have ample opportunity to tour a variety of work boats at the 2015 Working Waterfront Festival (September 26-27). The SCHOONER ADVENTURE, launched in 1926, measured 122 feet from bow to stern and carried a 120horsepower diesel engine, fourteen dories, and a crew of twenty-seven. She fished the Grand Banks from her home port of Gloucester from 1926 to 1953 under Captain Jeff Thomas and later, Captain Leo Hynes. The Schooner Adventure was considered a highliner, the biggest money-maker of all time, landing nearly $4 million worth of cod and halibut during her fishing career.
After a lengthy and comprehensive restoration, _Adventure_ was issued her Coast Guard Passenger Vessel Certificate on June 8, 2015, her first since 1988, and is completing her first sailing season in a quarter century. Designed by Thomas F. McManus of Boston and built at the John F. James & Son Yard in Essex for Captain Jeff Thomas of Gloucester, _Adventure_ was one of the last wooden sailing vessels of her kind built for the dory-fishing industry. _Adventure_, named for one of the fantasy fleet of ships drawn by Captain Thomas’s young son, is a knockabout schooner, designed without a bowsprit for the safety of the crew. The McManus knockabout design was regarded by maritime historian, Howard I. Chapelle, as “the acme in the long evolution of the New England fishing schooner”.
The tradition of racing fishing schooners for sport can be directly traced back to McManus who sponsored the races to demonstrate the speediness of his designs. When she retired, _Adventure_was the last American dory-fishing schooner in the North Atlantic. She was given a new life as a passenger vessel in 1954, and became known as the “Queen of the Windjammers” sailing Maine’s Penobscot Bay until 1988.
Since her return to her original home port, she has been maintained and restored by The Gloucester Adventure Inc., a 501(c) 3 non-profit educational and cultural foundation. The restoration spanned 27 years, and was completed at a cost of $5 million dollars. Today,_Adventure_ is available for education programs in conjunction with community partners, for charter by groups, member sails, and for unique dockside events. The ship is capable of carrying 65 passengers underway and 80 alongside. “The ship is both a powerful icon of Maritime Heritage for Gloucester and the region, and a unique asset available to the whole community”, said Captain Stefan Edick, “we look forward to this next phase of her life, and to sharing her history with residents and visitors alike”.
A benefit concert for Schooner _Adventure_ will be held on her deck on Friday, September 25, 2015 at 6PM. Performers include John Roberts, Deb Cowan, the New Bedford Harbor Sea Chantey Chorus, the Rum Soaked Crooks, the Providence-based chantey group Sharks Come Cruisin, and Bob Zentz. _Adventure_will be docked on the south side of State Pier, at Schooner _Ernestina-Morrissey_’s berth. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased the evening of the show starting at 5PM. Parking is available at all downtown meters for free on Friday evening as well as throughout the weekend.
In addition to the ADVENTURE, visitors will be able to tour the F/V Little Lady, a Stonington dragger, as well as a modern day dragger, a scalloper, a deep sea clammer, a lobster boat, and a tug boat. For visitors wishing an on-water experience, the Buzzard’s Bay Rowing Club offers free whaleboat rides from 2:00-5:00 on Saturday and 12:00-5:00 on Sunday for attendees aged 18 and older. Whaling City Expeditions offers Harbor Tours both days from 12:00-5:00 at a special festival rate. Tug boat enthusiasts should make a point of attending the annual Tug Boat Muster Saturday beginning at 3:00 pm with mini tugs followed by full sized tugs at 3:30 p.m.
The WORKING WATERFRONT FESTIVAL is a project of the COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CENTER OF SOUTHEASTERN MA, a non-profit organization. The FREE festival, a family friendly, educational celebration of New England’s commercial fishing industry, features live maritime and ethnic music, fishermen’s contests, fresh seafood, vessel tours, maritime authors, cooking demonstrations, kid’s activities and more. It all takes place on working piers and waterfront parks in New Bedford, MA, America’s #1 fishing port, on the last full weekend in September. Navigate to us www.workingwaterfrontfestival.org