SCHOONER ADVENTURE FEATURED IN
23rd ANNUAL GLOUCESTER SCHOONER FESTIVAL
Event attendees invited to tour National Historic Landmark
Who: The Schooner Adventure
What: Public dockside tours of the Schooner Adventure
When: All day Saturday, September 1st and Sunday, September 2nd
Where: Cruiseport Gloucester Pier, 6 Rowe Square, Gloucester, MA
The Schooner Adventure, a designated National Historic Landmark, will be offering on-board tours of the vessel in celebration of the Gloucester Schooner Festival. The Adventure is currently undergoing the final stages of restoration at Rose’s Marine and is expected to be a fully rigged sailing ship in 2008. Once restored, the Adventure will serve as an active sailing resource for environmental and multidisciplinary, experiential programs.
The Gloucester Schooner Festival will take place from August 31st until September 2nd and honors the major contributions of the classic fishing schooners to the history of Gloucester. The City’s harbor is the oldest fishing port on the Atlantic Coast and provides the backdrop for a unique mix of old and new as modern-day fishermen share their home port with traditional vessels of an earlier era. The Gloucester Schooner Festival is organized by the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce with the support of the City of Gloucester, the U.S. Coast Guard and numerous corporate sponsors.
Tours of the Adventure aim to educate visitors on the dynamic equilibrium between the ecological needs of the North Atlantic fisheries and the economic needs of local coastal fishing communities. On Friday, August, 31, 2007 from 5:00’8:00 p.m. Schooner Adventure is hosting the Mayor’s Reception. This is the opening ceremony for the Gloucester Schooner Festival and a private reception for the Mayor, visiting captains & crews, dignitaries and invited guests.
Built in 1926, the Adventure is a sail-powered 122-foot wooden schooner and is the last of Gloucester’s famous Grand Bank fishing schooner fleet, once known as ‘Gloucestermen,’ and immortalized in Rudyard Kipling’s ‘Captain’s Courageous.’ When she retired in 1953, the Schooner Adventure was the last American dory-trawler still working in the North Atlantic. Today, the Schooner Adventure serves as an educational facility and memorial to the important role of fishing in American history.
For additional information about the Adventure schooner, or to pre-arrange an on-board tour, please visit www.schooner-adventure.org or contact Marty Krugman at mkrugman@verizon.net.
About Adventure
The Gloucester Adventure, a 501(C)(3) non-profit historic preservation and educational organization, was established to restore the historic dory-fishing schooner Adventure as a community resource and living classroom. Volunteers help year-round with vessel restoration, innovative educational programs, events, and fundraising. One of the last five surviving Essex-built dory-fishing schooners, the Adventure is an icon of the nation’s fishing industry and a centerpiece of America’s oldest fishing port. Adventure is a destination site on the Essex National Heritage Area Maritime Trail’the only National Historic Landmark vessel in Essex County. It serves as a living memorial to the more than 5,000 Gloucester fishermen who perished at sea. Built in 1926, the Adventure was the last American dory-trawler, fishing in the North Atlantic when she retired in 1953.