1911 80 Feet Schooner 50 Passenger COI - Gaff Rigged - Whale Watching

Sylvina W. Beal History

The Sylvina W. Beal is a knockabout schooner, a type of schooner without a bowsprit. (A spar projecting forward from the bow of a vessel.) She was built with long bow overhangs to allow easier handling at wharves and prevent loss of life at sea caused by men being washed off the bowsprit when furling heavy sails in bad weather. McManus in Essex, Massachusetts first used this design in 1901 when designing the schooner Helen B. Thomas. This design replaced the prominent bowsprits called "Widow-Makers," was fast, and very seaworthy.

The Sylvina W. Beal was built in East Boothbay Harbor, Maine in 1911 at the Frank J. Adams Yard. She was built for Charles H. Beal of Beals Island and named for his wife Sylvina W. (Alley) Beal of Jonesport whom he had married on 17 November 1887. Launched as a two-masted 84-foot wooden fishing schooner, she fished as both a herring and mackerel seiner. She was also used as a seafood cargo carrier until she was converted to a windjammer passenger schooner in 1981. In 2002 she left Downeast Windjammer and Captain Steve Pagels in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, for her new berth in Eastport with Captain Butch Harris. The boat has also been used as a setting in two movies, Amistad(1997) and Age of Innocence(1993).

Length Overall - 84' Draft - 8' Beam - 17' Cargo - 60 Tons Sail Area - 2,200 square feet Tons - 46 gross tons Hull - Wood Rigging - Gaff Rig, Two-Masted Displacement - 80 tons


John Deere 135 hp diesel with only 1200 hours since new
Borg warner gear
2" shaft
70 gals fuel in 2 - 35 gal alum. tanks
200 gals fresh water
200 gals holding tank

12 volt electrical system VHF Raytheon radar Garmin GPS

Present owner has reconstructed forward decks and some framing as needed. Vessel is curently Coast Guard inspected for 50 day passengers and is presently taking daily whale watching excursions.