Winter Sailing in Stuart

After we arrived in Stuart, Florida, we decided to explore the area a bit while enjoying visits with friends nearby.  Before we knew it, we had stayed a few days, and then a few weeks, then a month, and then almost two.

The weather was lovely, the sun shone more often than not, and we enjoyed relaxing and sailing on the St. Lucie River alongside the Schooner Lily.  It seems likely that Stuart will be the southern-most terminus of our cruise this winter, because in about a week week we intend to turn around to start our saunter back northward.  It has been nice to stay put a while, to experience what the town and community have to offer and to meet new people and make new friends, and now we are looking forward to traveling once more.

One of the highlights of our visit here in Stuart has been sailing alongside (and on!) the Schooner Lily.  Watching her skim along the surface of the water is a delight, and sailing the St. Lucie River with Fred and Jamie is a meaningful experience for us, since we once worked on the water alongside them back in Maine.  But since then, the four of us had come along way, and it has been wonderful to reconnect.  For those interested in a bit of the tale, which has led the four of us into the joys of boat ownership and acting as stewards for our beloved little ships, below is a a story about Fred and Lou's journey.

Saturday, January 18, 2014—Stuart, Florida

The wind is calmer now, though earlier in the day it blew strongly across the St. Lucie River, whipping up a white-tipped chop.  The sky is empty of clouds but for a wisp of smoke hovering over the horizon.  Warmly-dressed passengers board the Schooner Lily in Downtown Stuart, ready for an evening of sailing.  Three of this evening’s groups are celebrating birthdays, and the mood is light; laughter already cascades across the water.  Captain Fred Newhart, First Mate Jamie Miscoski, and deckhand Jimmy Salerno welcome their guests aboard.

As they leave the dock Captain Fred Newhart lifts a conch shell, purses his lips and, “ahrmmmmm!”—the loud horn pierces through the laughter on deck and towards the far shores of the St. Lucie River.  When Schooner Lily first started sailing the river four years ago that call would have gone unanswered, but tonight another horn sounds.  Lily has made friends along the St. Lucie River; she is now part of the scenery, and she has become Stuart’s resident schooner.

As guests help the crew raise the Lily’s sails, another boat sails towards her.  It is Evelyn, another of the Lily’s friends, come to join her and sail alongside.  The captains shout greetings and point their ships downwind.  Before Evelyn’s arrival on New Year’s Eve, the last time the two skippers had sailed alongside one another was more than 1200 miles further north.  Both the Schooner Lily and Evelyn, a Tahiti Ketch, have traveled a long way to sail in Stuart tonight.

Before the Lily, Captain Fred Newhart sailed aboard the windjammers of Maine.  These classic beauties are still popular in the cold waters of the Gulf of Maine, where cool temperatures and salt help to preserve the wood.  There is also a long-standing tradition of craftsmanship and wooden boat building; old-timers pass on generations-worth of wisdom, and maritime history lives on.  Working aboard the windjammers Newhart absorbed these skills, learning more about wooden ships, traditional rigs, repairing and maintaining wood, knot-work, seamanship, lore, and history.   And as his passion for these old gaffers grew and his interests became a lifestyle, Captain Fred’s path crossed with that of the Schooner Lily.

Lily was built on Martha’s Vineyard in the 1970s, to deliver cargo via sail-power.  Her genesis was unusual—the Age of Sail was long over, and fiberglass boats had begun to replace wooden hulls in popularity.  The Lily—a revival of the past—was a product of economy; the oil embargo of that era had driven up fuel prices, and Lily’s ability to haul goods with minimal fuel consumption was seen as a creative solution.  Lily would herald in a comeback of working sailboats, and a new age of sail would begin.  But the crisis didn’t last, and a comeback never occurred.  It is possible that Lily was the last purpose-built sailing cargo-ship.

Later Lily began the death spiral for wooden boats—lack of regular maintenance.  When wood is uncared for it can rot, dry out and leak between planks, the hull can hog and become misshapen.  Even if a boat is cared for carefully these things can occur—it is the natural tendency of wood to turn to dirt, to rot when fresh water is introduced.  Lily needed some focused restoration and rebuilding to save her, and in 1999 Fred Newhart became involved with that project.

At the time, Newhart was working for Captain Steven F. Pagels who runs a number of vessels in Maine and had purchased the Lily.  Pagels wanted to make Lily sail again, and Newhart made it happen.  Over a period of years, Newhart crewed aboard the Schooner Margaret Todd while working as one of the leaders in the Lily’s restoration.

Captain Fred Newhart met the Schooner Lily’s First Mate, Jamie Miscoski, in early 2010.  A few months later the Martin County couple was in Maine—working aboard a wooden lobster boat—planning, negotiating, and striving towards a dream: Bring Lily south to Florida, and sail her on the St. Lucie River.   It took hard work, great risks, and hours of painting and sanding between November storms.  But in early December of 2010, the engine-less Lily was on an oversized trailer, heading for the Florida sunshine.  Lily is now enjoying her fourth season in Florida, departing from Downtown Stuart’s Riverwalk Pier, November through Memorial Day.

Captain Newhart helped launch the restored Lily into the cold waters of Frenchman Bay in 2001, and Lily earned her U.S. Coast Guard Certification in 2007.  That same year, Newhart befriended Captain Lou Gallagher, who was earning his own education in the school of traditional craft, while both worked as mates aboard the Schooner Margaret Todd.  Two years later, in summer of 2009, they were crewing aboard the 151-foot steel, four-masted schooner again, while captaining other boats in the region as well: Newhart was captain of Lily, and Gallagher spent time skippering a few of the region’s passenger ferries.  The next season the friends were working together again, but for a different company; with Sail Acadia & Quietside Cruises Newhart captained the wooden lobster boat Elizabeth T., while Gallagher captained Helen Brooks, a replica Friendship Sloop—the type used for lobstering under sail before the advent of engines.  In October these boats were hauled from the water, covered to protect them from a harsh winter, and Gallagher and Newhart moved on to their next pursuits: Gallagher spent his winter working on wooden boats in a boatyard, and a few boatyards over, Newhart and Miscoski prepped the Lily for her first season in Florida.  Then, the two captains’ paths diverged north and south, and each spent opposite seasons sailing in Maine and Florida, while maintaining, rebuilding, and restoring during the off-season months.

Captain Lou Gallagher continues to captain the Friendship Sloop Helen Brooks, but now he is also captain of another vessel too: the Tahiti Ketch Evelyn.  In 2011, Gallagher and his wife, Astra Haldeman, purchased their own traditionally-rigged wooden boat.  They have lived aboard Evelyn since the second day of their ownership—year-round in Maine for two years while undertaking projects to improve Evelyn’s condition, and this winter pointed the compass south.

Evelyn, like Lily, is an older design built new in the 1970s; she was launched in 1985 after more than a decade of construction.  She was the retirement dream of Benjamin O. Severns, an engineer from Athens, Indiana, who built her in his backyard.  After launching her in the Great Lakes, Ben and his wife Elly embarked on a two-year cruise.  Along the way they visited a son living in Florida, so Evelyn may have sailed the Treasure Coast once before.

The Tahiti Ketch Evelyn has other ties to the state as well; she was designed by John Hanna of Dunedin, Florida.  Hanna designed the boat in 1923, and originally called the type “Neptune.”  The plans were published in Modern Mechanix (later called Mechanix Illustrated), and a few copies were sold, built, and sailed.  Then, during the Great Depression, Hanna made some modifications and republished the design as the “Tahiti Ketch,” a boat that had everything needed to sail to Tahiti, and back.  The boat and description captured the imagination of those looking to escape the Depression, and the Tahiti Ketch was a hit.  The design, and modified versions such as Evelyn, continue to be popular with backyard builders the world over—the Tahiti Ketch is a boat for those afflicted with wanderlust.

Gallagher and Haldeman left Northeast Harbor, Maine, in late September.  They had sailed Evelyn in Maine and New England, but this was their first extended cruise south.  They left with no destination, the goal simply being to enjoy the experience.  As the weather continually cooled they followed it south, and in late December found themselves in Georgia.  With the Florida border in reach and Stuart closer than ever, sailing alongside the Schooner Lily, Captain Fred and Jamie was a dream that could easily become reality.  So Evelyn pushed southward, and as she sailed beneath the Evans McCrary Bridge on New Year’s Eve, Captain Fred Newhart sensed there was another wooden gaff-rigger in his presence and spotted Evelyn immediately.  The two captains steered towards one another, and as the Schooner Lily swept by all aboard called, “Welcome to Florida!”  Then, as the sun set on 2013, the two little ships sailed side by side.

The unusually cool but clear days of mid-January brought both boats together again.  Evelyn is still in Stuart, happy to be sailing so early in the New Year.  Lily is settling into another busy season, welcoming guests aboard to experience the magic of traditional sailing, on a historically significant schooner.

Captain Newhart and Captain Gallagher sail alongside each other once more, as they did before, miles away and years ago.  But this time it is different.  This time each is captain of his own vessel, the wooden boat he has poured heart, soul, sweat, and life into.  The boat he lovingly maintains and repairs.  The boat he sails with more pride than any other.

“Welcome aboard,” said Captain Fred and First Mate Jamie earlier that evening, as guests stepped onto the decks of the Schooner Lily, and planks and rigging creaked in the wind.  Hours later, as the two boats sailed along, the sun set over another day, and two symbols of a vibrant maritime history lowered their sails.  But these sails will raise again, for these boats are inspired by the past, sailed in the present, and maintained for the future.  These captains are caretakers in a chapter of their vessel’s story, and for now that story is set along the St. Lucie River.

To learn more about the Schooner Lily, visit SchoonerLily.com or follow @SchoonerLily

To learn more about Evelyn, visit TheShipsBlog.com or follow @TheShipBlog

Schooner Lily sails along the St. Lucie River in January 2014.

Captain Fred Newhart at the helm of the Schooner Lily.

Fred Newhart and Jamie Miscoski perform
during a sunset sail aboard the Schooner Lily.

Captains Fred Newhart & Lou Gallagher sailing the
Friendship Sloop Helen Brooks during the 2010 Annual
Southwest Harbor Rendezvous Friendship Sloop Regatta;
that year Helen Brooks came in first place.

Captain Lou Gallagher at the helm of Evelyn,
off of Cape Ann, MA, October 2013.

Evelyn sails along the St. Lucie River in January 2014.