Pilot Schooner Timberwind Relaunched

Doug Mills
Maritime Editor
RCN America Network

Rockland, Maine- After two weeks out of the water mid-season to repair a warn out rudder shaft the pilot schooner Timberwind was relaunched yesterday afternoon at the North End Shipyard in Rockland Maine.

"The Timberwind was built in 1931 on Union Wharf in Portland, Maine. She was built to the highest standards to insure the comfort and safety of the men who sailed her. The Schooner was built in Maine for Maine duty, and since her launching in 1931, she has never left Maine waters. Built to carry pilots to and from ships entering or leaving Portland harbor, she was constructed ruggedly using sturdy white oak frames and planks for seaworthiness through years of storms and icy Maine winters. As launched, she was bald-headed, had no bowsprit, and had her main cabin located aft with a large hold amidships.

Timberwind's original name was the Portland Pilot and she served as the pilot boat for the harbor of Portland from 1931-1969. Portland Pilot and her crews faced countless vicious winter northeasters when green waters as well as spray coming aboard froze to the rigging and had to be chipped off in order to maintain stability. She always met the challenge although in one particular bitter storm, on February 16, 1958 she suffered her only casualty and was thought lost herself.

For thirty-eight years, twenty-four hours a day and in all weather conditions, Portland Pilot was on call. When she wasn't on station fifteen miles offshore, she was in at the dock taking on stores and readying for her next shift. She was finally replaced with a steel power boat in 1969, but to this day she is fondly remembered by the men who worked on her out of Portland."[http://schoonertimberwind.com]

For more information on this historic vessel or to book a week aboard the Timberwind you should visit: http://schoonertimberwind.com