A Great Shakedown Sail with the Wanderbird Crew

Capt. Rick Miles of the expedition vessel Wanderbird came for a sail on the Ardelle yesterday

Capt. Karen Miles, co-captain of the Wanderbird, was great to have on board, too.  Rick and Karen will be heading to the far north soon and are currently on the rails at the Gloucester Marine Railway with two crew and two dogs. Stop by and have a look at their 90-foot vessel Wanderbird. 

Harold and Rick

Davis Griffith of Marblehead, Finch and Rose were on board, too.

Crew members of the Wanderbird enjoyed a sail with us yesterday.

Capt. Rick Miles takes an opportunity to relax. He and his wife Capt. Karen Miles are at the Gloucester Marine Railway all week getting their boat read as they have a long trip ahead this coming summer on their expedition charter vessel and will soon head to Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Labrador, Greenland and farther north, even still on the Wanderbird.

Some Sunday scenes in Gloucester harbor in early May.

Gloucester scene

The paint factory has a restored brick building that looks fantastic.

 We had a great shakedown sail yesterday on the schooner Ardelle and were happy to have Capt. Rick and Capt, Karen Miles and their crew aboard. They will be heading north soon aboard their 90-foot vessel Wanderbird to start their charter season and will travel as far north as Labrador, Baffin Bay and along the coast of Greenland to Diska and beyond. Capt. Karen says that over the course of the summer they cover more sea miles than an Atlantic crossing and return trip  so they really enjoy the brief time they come to Gloucester each year to haul out on the Gloucester Marine Railway. They work hard on getting the boat ready but were able to relax with us for a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon.

Rick fished out of Gloucester over 30 years ago, and grew up in Winthrop and Marblehead and is an old, good friend.  He has been on the water ever since the late 70s all over the world and just last winter he and his wife did an amazing slide show presentation at the Essex Shipbuilding Museum of their trip to the Artic last year where they take up to 12 passengers. It is well worth looking into - those of you who want to travel with two amazing people and have a kind of tramp steamer experience. Bird life, polar bears, native people and just an overall unique and rare opportunity to see an entirely different part of our world and meet the people who live there...made me consider the possibility of jumping ship and volunteering myself for a trip this summer.  The Wanderbird does have volunteer crew and we had their two young folks on board the Ardelle with us yesterday.

We wish them a safe and successful journey north and hope to hear all about it sometime next winter when, hopefully, they come back to Essex and do another slideshow for us all!