The Rachel B. Jackson was built in Maine in 1982 and is a working replica of an 1890s coastal schooner. Her sturdily built mahogany planking, oak frames, pine decks, shining brass fittings and exotic wood cabinetry recall the workmanship of days gone by.

She gives her passengers the rare opportunity to experience an authentic vessel of another era. Originally put into service as a training vessel at Mystic Seaport, the Rachel B. Jackson now tours the eastern seaboard from Maine to the Caribbean. She represented the State of Maine in the Tall Ships 2000 race from Bermuda to Boston then on to Halifax, NS. The Rachel B. Jackson was chartered by the National Geographic Society to do whale research off the coast of the Dominican Republic and she circumnavigated the world on a 3-year adventure.

The Rachel B. Jackson has been for sale for some time. When we last posted about her in 2008, she was offered  for sale for $350,000.

In the same post we also wrote about the Victory Chimes which was also for sale. She is still available.  The 172′ three masted schooner is the only surviving example of the Chesapeake Ram type schooner in existence today. Her asking price has recently been reduced to $1,200,000.

The two boats for sale are the Rachel B. Jackson and the venerable Victory Chimes. The Rachel B. Jackson is a 1982 built replica of an 1890s coastal schooner. She is a 67′LOA and 52′LOD gaff rigged topsail schooner, Coast Guard Inspected, and Certified to carry 30 passengers, presumably on daysails.  She is offered for sale for $350,000.00.

The Victory Chimes is also for sale for $1,500,000.  She is the last three masted gaff rigged shcooner on the Maine Coast.  She was built in 1900, is 172′ LOA and can carry 49 passengers. To say that she is an icon may be understating things. The Victory Chimes is listed as a Federal National Historic Landmark and shows up on the Maine State Quarter.   She is the only existing vessel that I am am aware of that is represented on US currency or coinage.

This musing about Maine Windjammers slightly less theoretical after reading a wonderful article in the Augsut 21, 2008 Down East magazine  – The Business of Raising Sails on a Maine Windjammer by Ben McCanna.  He describes a trip on the Lewis R. French  with Captain Garth and looks briefly into the economics of windjammer sailing.

 ”As a schooner bum, Garth wasn’t making enough money to put a down payment on the boat; he’d have to borrow 100% of the selling price. The First National Bank of Damariscotta was quick to lend 75% of the money—after all, the Lewis R. French was essentially a turnkey business — and, luckily, Garth was able to borrow the rest from a few private investors (one of whom was a regular Lewis R. French passenger).

Garth won’t discuss what the selling price was, but the rumor is a windjammer will cost you somewhere between $400K and $800K depending on the number of guests she’ll carry.”

I am not sure about  the economics of the Victory Chimes but suddenly the Rachel B. Jackson looks remarkably reasonable.

Ben McCanna writes: “There are twelve traditional tall ships in the Maine Windjammer Association; this summer I’m sailing on all of them.”   His blog  “Berth of the Cool: A Maine Windjammer Journal”  makes for great reading for any fan of sailing in general, or schooners in particular, not to mention the wonderful Maine coast. 

For anyone interested in Maine Windjammers, check out the Maine Windjammer Association