The movie WINDJAMMER is in production to be released in the fall of 2014. This film is being produced by Doug Mills in association with The Maine Windjammer Project and The Camden Windjammer Project
Penobscot Bay on the coast of Maine has come to be known as one of the best places in the world for sailing. On any given day in the summer and fall you may see as many as a dozen historic schooners some over 140 years old still sailing in these waters.
There was a time when sail was king on the coast of Maine. The lime trade, granite & marble, lumber from virgin forests, ice and the fishing trades all employed sailing craft to move their products. The lime trade alone employed over 200 two masted schooners in Rockland and the surrounding coastal Maine towns.
Steam powered vessels were making some of the longer trans-Atlantic runs and the passenger trade up and down the coast. However, for coastal trade and the hundreds of islands located just off the coast of Maine sail is still king.
The coastal waters would be filled with these two masted schooners delivering cargo to and from all the coastal towns. They are the lifeline for those living on the islands, delivering everything from lumber to butter and even your grandfather’s new Sunday suit.
Today only a handful of the sailing vessels remain. Many of them were simply used until they were worn out and replaced by a new one. During the Great Depression, thousands of these boats were just abandoned where they stood and left to rot.
There is, however a place where during the summer and fall you can still see these historic vessels sailing the clear blue waters the Atlantic much the way they have for the past 200 years. On the west side of Penobscot Bay is the town of Camden. It was here in 1935 that Frank Swift started offering windjammer vacations and the Maine windjammer fleet was born.
Come experience the lore of the windjammer on the coast of Maine with Captain Jim Sharp. With video provided by The Maine Windjammer Project and working in association with the Camden Windjammer Festival.
You can follow the progress of this exciting project on facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Windjammer/1435898273319240
