The Tradition of Flags

 

The tradition of raising flags at 8:00am and lowering them at sunset dates all the way back to the late 1700s in the British Royal Navy. It is still practiced by today’s navy, as well as many merchant and private vessels around the world. The Schooner J. & E. Riggin is no exception. 

We fly an ensign, which in our case as a U.S.-flagged vessel, is the American flag. This is flown off of the peak of our mainsail when it is set, or off of the back of the main boom when the sail is down. It is used to communicate to other vessels where our vessel is registered. It is the first flag up each day, and the last one down.

The name pennant is flown from the top of the mainmast to give everyone who sees us the ability to read our name clearly. 

The house flag is flown at the top of our foremast this is intended to communicate something about the ownership, but until we have a house flag designed, we have decided to use the classic State of Maine Dirigo flag. 

The final flag you can expect to see aboard the Riggin is the “R” or Romeo flag and the First Repeater. We use this combination on the main spreader to communicate the presence of a Riggin Relic aboard a cruise. 

This week we saw the first of many raising of the ship’s colors for the 2021 season. Though historically greeted with the call of a bugle, ours was greeted with excitement and cheers from the crew.

Back in Action

After nearly a year of sitting stationary, the Schooner J. & E. Riggin left the dock yesterday under the direction of her new captains, Justin Schaefer & Jocelyn Schmidt. She was bound for North End Shipyard, for her annual haul out. The crew relished in the cool spring breeze on their faces, something they all had missed in their time away. 

 

“It would have been powerful to take her off the dock for the first time regardless of whether or not she had sailed last year.” Jocelyn said. “There was something exceptionally powerful about getting to be the ones to take her out, even just for the short run to the shipyard knowing that it was the first time in a year she had had the chance to stretch her legs. It feels like the start of a really special summer, and the reality of being able to have a season this year is pretty emotional for us.” 

This haul-out will be brief, just to put fresh paint on the bottom and replace the zincs which protect the metal beneath the water from electrolysis. 

“It feels good to be back out on the water and to return to a familiar routine with the vessel after a year of lying dormant,” said Captain Schaefer. “Generations of Riggin crew spanning several seasons came out to offer their collective support & wisdom which made for an extremely special day.” 

 

 

 

Things Are Getting Fancy

While the main cabin house is getting it’s makeover, the navigation station is also getting a total renovation.  Those of you who have sailed with us for a while will remember Mouse, a long-time crew member who has, over the years, become a skilled carpenter and shipwright.  He’s back in school for naval architecture and on the weekends we get his good, smart self in our shop.  This beautiful nav. station will grace our cabin house this summer!  Capt. will get to look at all summer long as he stands back by the wheel.   Here’s some photos of the progress.  We’ll post when it’s all on board and installed too.

maine windjammer wooden boat repair

maine windjammer wooden boat repair

maine windjammer wooden boat repair

maine windjammer wooden boat repair

maine windjammer wooden boat repair

maine windjammer wooden boat repairmaine windjammer wooden boat repair

Isn’t it pretty?!

Photos by Alan Castonguay

 

New Main Cabin House

It started with a discussion about re-caulking the main cabin house.  It journeyed past replacing some cabin planks and lots of layers of varnish.  It ended with a completely new main cabin house.  Just like replacing a stove in a house which turns into entire kitchen renovation.  Exactly like that.  

Every year we choose a different area of the Riggin upon which to focus.  That’s just how owning a schooner built in 1927 goes.  This year, the main cabin house got our attention and we had a number of crew members working on the project.  Here are some  process photos from start to almost finish.  And an hilarious short clip of the guys having fun.  We aren’t quite to the final coat of paint or the re-installation of the skylight or nav. station but we’ll post those when that happens shortly.

maine windjammer wooden boat repair

maine windjammer wooden boat repair

maine windjammer wooden boat repair

maine windjammer wooden boat repair

maine windjammer wooden boat repair

maine windjammer wooden boat repair

maine windjammer wooden boat repair

maine windjammer wooden boat repair

maine windjammer wooden boat repair

maine windjammer wooden boat repair

 

Photos by Capt Jon Finger