COASTAL CRUISING SEAMANSHIP

A week’s cruising on the coast of Maine.

Over the years we’ve learned that the best way to discover the pleasures and develop the skills of cruising under sail is to sail off in the right boat with the right skipper. This season we’re proud to offer two liveaboard courses on board a classic vessel.

ABIGAIL is a John Alden designed ketch

ABIGAIL is a lovely 39′ ketch designed by John Alden in his later years and built by Seth Persson in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. Rugged yet handsome, this double-planked boat was originally launched in 1956. Having undergone both a structural and cosmetic restoration at Brooklin Boat Yard, ABIGAIL was relaunched in the summer of 1994. She is no stranger to the Maine cruising community and has also cruised the Caribbean during a brief period of ownership by an Italian count.Varied sail inventory gives ABIGAIL the versatility one needs for the changeable winds found on Maine’s coast, and a 4108 Perkins diesel is always available for those flat-calm days. Her spacious cockpit, wide decks, high bulwarks, standing headroom, and current electronics all contribute to a comfortable learning experience.

The 39′ John Alden–designed cruising ketch ABIGAIL, with Hans Vierthaler as your instructor, is a beautiful example of a bluewater yacht, and a great vessel on which to learn about sailing. Designed to provide the maximum of comfort and seaworthiness, accommodating students in a safe, spacious manner.

Hans Vierthaler is a seasoned, proven, and enthusiastic sailor who has spent a good portion of his life sailing and living aboard boats. He will create a custom-tailored course in which you will be patiently coached toward the next level in your sailing career—whether it be skippering a vessel on your own, or crewing with increased confidence, competence, and enjoyment. Everyone shares in the responsibilities of the cruise, including skippering, navigating, and cooking. There’s time, too, to savor the pleasures that cruising is all about—feeling a well-found vessel moving through a seaway, experiencing the peace and freedom of life at sea, and slipping into quiet anchorages each night.

This is a rare opportunity to learn anything and everything you wish to about the complex subject of big-boat cruising, and we’re very pleased to have the chance to offer it to you.

Tuition: $1100

Note: Students should be in good physical condition, have good balance and agility and the ability to enter and exit small boats from larger craft, beach or rocky shore.