In preparation for a thorough Coast Guard inspection, we’d stripped the masts, booms, and gaffs on the schooners Appledore IV and V of paint and varnish. This revealed several small rot areas, wear, and damage. Two of the gaff jaws (also called gaff saddles) had significant damage, including cracks in the jaws themselves, probably due to hard jibes and insufficient repairs. Gaffs are the angled spars from which the sails are hung. Continue reading
Gougeon Brothers, Inc. has supported our local tallships—Appledore IV and Appledore V—since they arrived at their downtown Bay City facilities on the Saginaw River. These steel-hulled, gaff-rigged schooners are typical of the type that sailed the Great Lakes and coastal waters right up to the end of the age of sail. Schooners were the primary means of transporting goods and people over long distances. Continue reading
Above: Appledore IV makes her way upriver after a cruise on the Saginaw Bay with her repaired topmasts in place.
The Appledore IV is an 85′ LOA topsail schooner owned by the non-profit organization BaySail, based here in Bay City, Michigan. She is licensed to carry 52, including a captain and crew of three, on educational tours of the Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron. The main topmast and the fore topmast on Appledore IV were found to have rotted wood when they were inspected in the spring of 2006. Once the topmasts were taken down from the boat, they were brought into the Gougeon boat shop for paint removal and further inspection. Continue reading