Sunday, May 16th, 2021
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.
Sunday, April 4th, 2021
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.”
Friday, October 5th, 2018
Photo by Captain Jon Finger
Wednesday, April 25th, 2018
Questions and the zest for learning – we love it. Now, if you’ve sailed with us before, you might already know the answer to some of these questions, but maybe not all. Over the next several e-newsletters, we’ll be sharing some of our most frequently asked questions. See if you know the full story…
“Do we get to help sail the boat?”
Well, we sure do hope so, but you need to come sailing first! You can do as much or as little as you like. Of course we encourage everyone to be a part of the team that gets us going in the morning, sails the boat during the day, and helps us anchor at night. The galley also needs plenty of help and we nudge everyone to do their share at the dish basin. You can even take a turn at the wheel if you like or have Capt. Jon teach you to navigate. Learning is fun and as are all the aspects of running the
Riggin. We hope you’ll be a part of our summer.
