BOOTHBAY HARBOR, Maine — She is far to the north now, her bow plunging into the chilly waters of the North Atlantic. The schooner Bowdoin and her crew of mostly novice deep water sailors are off on a six week adventure, to begin retracing the vessel’s historic past.
The Bowdoin, owned by Maine Maritime Academy, is now the official vessel of the state of Maine, but she was built and launched in 1921 for exploration. Admiral Donald MacMillan had the Bowdoin designed for the rigors and danger of the Arctic, and made more than two dozen trips to those northern reaches of Greenland and Labrador, visiting native villages to research their world and their cultures.
The schooner’s new captain, Alex Peacock, said that Arctic world was defined by ice in the 20th century.
“A lot of ice, and they would purposely get iced in and winter over. The first time was 1921, the second time was in ’23 farther [toward] the Greenland coast.”
A risky decision for explorers at the time, he said, especially in a wooden sailing vessel.
"Pretty brave, and he (MacMillan) was the stoic leader they all needed."
The Bowdoin is now 102 years old and has been repaired and rebuilt several times. As he stood on the dock in Boothbay Harbor on June 6, ready to set sail, Peacock said the schooner was in excellent condition, fresh out of the yard after a spring painting, her hull gleaming as the crew made final preparations for the trip.
The crew is primarily made up of students from Maine Maritime Academy, plus two from Bowdoin College. They were ready to cross the Gulf of Maine, then make several port calls in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland before finally reaching the harbor of Main, Labrador, then returning to Castine, Maine in mid-July.
For MMA sophomore Landen Parks, admittedly a novice sailor, the trip carries special meaning.
“My great great grandfather sailed on board with MacMillan in 1929,” Parks said. “They were heading to Main [Labrador] to build a school.”
She explained he was the ship’s doctor and did other science on the trip—and he was 67 years old at the time.
Parks will do marine biology research on the trip, as well as other crew duties.
“It means a lot (to be making the trip). I didn’t come on board specifically to follow him, but thought it was a coincidence and adds a little significance to the cruise and become a sort of full circle moment.”
For Capt. Peacock and the Bowdoin, this is also a sort of shakedown cruise. In 2024, they plan to retrace MacMillan’s voyages to Greenland, above the Arctic Circle. The schooner has not been to that northern world in more than 16 years. Part of that mission, and this current trip, is to reconnect with the communities the Bowdoin visited many decades ago.
“And it's been so long we want to rekindle old friendships and relationships along that coast from Battle Harbour up to Main,” he explained. “We want to give our students a cultural experience how a small community can survive a hard winter. And still live off the land in a large way, but also stewards of the environment, the cultural sensitivity of communities and the changes in the ice.”
The world of those communities in Labrador and Greenland has changed as the climate has warmed and ice has become more seasonal. Commercial ships and research ships now sail the Arctic in summer, and cruise ships even transit a Northwest Passage during the height of summer. All of that change is affecting the natural and human environment, Peacock said.
But the heart of this voyage may be the human experience for those on board, facing the sea together in a relatively small vessel built 102 years ago in Boothbay, Maine.
“It's an incredible honor," the Bowdoin's captain said. “I’m standing on the shoulders of giants and have a big shadow to fill.”
That job includes teaching and training the rookie crew, and bringing them safely home.
“For me it's pretty emotional to bring young adults on such an adventure. That’s going to sea, seamanship, working as a team, learning so many aspects of life, personal responsibility, anything that falls under that umbrella.”
They, and the Bowdoin herself, were clearly ready. As the century-old schooner motored towards the outer harbor, the crew raised the foresail, it filled with the wind, and they pointed toward the islands and the open sea beyond.