Press Releases

CONTACT: Janice B. Zenter, 207-326-2256

Schooner Bowdoin Welcomes Public Aboard in Portland

CASTINE, Maine - Maine Maritime Academy's (MMA) historic schooner Bowdoin will welcome the public aboard during a visit to Portland harbor on Sunday, June 20. The historic schooner's visit to Portland corresponds with the arrival of MMA's 500-foot training ship, State of Maine. Both vessels will be hosted in port by the college's local alumni group, the Casco Bay Chapter of the Maine Maritime Academy Alumni Association.

While in port, Bowdoin will offer free tours of the vessel to the public in the early evening, from 5-7 p.m. The vessel will be docked at Portland Yacht Services located at 58 Fore Street, a short walk from Portland's historic Old Port.

The arctic schooner Bowdoin enjoys a long history of seafaring education and exploration. Built in 1921 at the Hodgdon Brothers Shipyard in East Boothbay, the schooner sailed on 25 scientific expeditions to the Arctic Circle by Adm. Donald MacMillan. Following withdrawal from Arctic service in 1954, the Bowdoin supported the educational initiatives of Mystic Seaport in Connecticut and the Outward Bound School in Maine. The schooner was later acquired by the Schooner Bowdoin Association. Maine Maritime Academy leased the vessel in 1988 and bought her outright a year later. Recent sail training expeditions have taken the vessel and her student crew to Labrador, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and the Arctic Circle in support of the college's academic concentration in Sail Training. The schooner is bound for port visits in Portsmouth, N.H., and Marblehead, Mass., later in the month.

A public, coeducational college specializing in ocean and marine-oriented programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels, Maine Maritime Academy was founded in 1941. Today the college enrolls more than 850 students from 35 states and several foreign countries, awarding degrees in 15 fields of study. To learn more, visit www.mainemaritime.edu

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