Schooner Appledore - Ship's History

Launched on August 22, 1978, the Schooner Appledore II is proud of her colorful history. The Appledore II is the largest of her four sister ships, Appledores I, III, IV, and V. The Appledore was the last schooner custom built by the Harvey Gamage Shipyard in South Bristol, Maine. Previously, the Harvey Gamage Yard had built and launched some of the nations more famous tall ships. This list includes the Mary Day, the Harvey Gamage, the Shenandoah, the Bowdoin and the Spirit of Massachusetts.

The Appledore was built traditionally, using centuries old techniques of shipbuilding. The ship instantly brings to mind the phrase, “iron men and wooden ships.”

'Appledore' under construction Famed boat designer Bud McIntosh designed the ship. His design is now recognized worldwide for the Appledore’s heavy weather, open ocean capabilities. The ship is strong, stable and swift, with a ten-and-a-half-knot hull speed and 110-degree knockdown rating. In laymen’s terms, this ship will get you there, quickly without incident.

Its maiden voyage was an 18-month circumnavigation, commenced in November of 1978 from Portsmouth, New Hampshire and completed there after the Appledore visited many ports of call around the world. This voyage has been chronicled in two books, Dreams of Natural Places, A New England Schooner Odyssey and Sailing Three Oceans, both authored by Herbert Smith.

'Appledore' in Tahiti Since that time, the Appledore has sailed extensively throughout the Caribbean, serving educational and private tourism. For a number of years the ship served as the Semester At Sea vessel for Marine Biology majors from South Hampton University. For the last 15-years the ship has served double duty offering daysails from its homeports of Camden, Maine and Key West, Florida. Twice a year the ship makes a 2000-mile off shore voyage between these two ends of its cruising rainbow.

'Appledore' Underway From the moment you set foot upon her solid deck, you sense something special about the Appledore. You are taken with the massive spars, the symmetry of the halyards and sheets coiled on their pins, the glossy grain of varnished wood.

Nothing stirs the romantic heart more then the Appledore’s classic wooden hull whispering its way into the seas. The Appledore – more then a boat, it’s a tradition.