Schooner American Eagle — Attraction in Rockland

Recently, I chartered the Schooner American Eagle for our 22-member family to celebrate the big birthdays of my wife and I. We had a fantastic, 6-day Maine cruise that included The Great Schooner Race. We had a cruise that far exceeded our expectations and we can whole-heartedly recommend this boat and crew for anyone seeking a fun time on an antique Maine Schooner. (We have thousands of miles of blue water sailing and racing under our keels so it takes a lot to impress us). The following is our experience:

The Crew The crew can make or break the cruise. The American Eagle crew are a fun, experienced and accommodating group of young adults having the time of their lives. The captain, Tyler King has been around boats all his life and he exudes confidence. He is on the Race Committee and seems to be well-respected by the other boat captains. He’s just a really nice person and the crew love him. They anticipate his every move and handle the boat with skill. We hardly heard any orders being given. Boat handling was a well-orchestrated ballet. And they really took great care of us by skillfully helping us on and off the boat and attending to our every need.

By about the second day, we had become strong friends with the crew; by race day, we were all partying together. We just had a really fun time with them!

The Boat American Eagle is a restored 1930’s Schooner and a registered historic landmark. As we approached her for the first time and went below, we were instantly impressed with how well she was maintained. The varnish had a deep glow that can only be obtained by many layers of sanding and varnishing…a sign that this boat was lovingly cared for. The cabins are small as we expected.

Food This was the big surprise of the cruise. We expected nice food but nothing great because, after all, we were on this relatively small ship with a wood burning stove. Wrong! The food was simply amazing! Chef Marty was a magician and his assistant, Quin, handled baking and was equally amazing. It was also fun to pitch in and help them. At each meal, we formed a “food line” where plates and food were passed up from the galley to a line of us…each passing food from person to person until it reached the eating area.

The Cruise The first four days we cruised the beautiful islands of Penobscot Bay. We visited the Wooden Boat School and lovely Burnt Coat Harbor on Swan’s Island as well as the pretty town of Stonnington. The highlight was a lobster bake on McGlathery’s Island. We passed through “Merchant’s Row”, a group of isolated islands that are just picture perfect.

The Races The night before The Great Schooner Race is a “Small Boat Race”. This is just a pure fun activity with each schooner contributing a life boat full of crew and passengers rowing around. It’s hilarious as those not racing throw old biscuits and food at their competitors to slow them down.

On the morning of The Great Schooner Race, the forecast was for 5 knots so we anticipated a drifter. Instead, the wind was blowing a solid 15 knots so we looked forward to a nice day of sailing. We were first over the line at the start but not far behind us was the Mary Day, larger and faster boat. She tried to pass us but Captain Tyler held her off by giving her dirty air from our sails. At the turning mark, our better boat handling skills lengthened our lead. However, she bore down on us and eventually passed us. The rest of the race followed a similar pattern where they sailed away from us but we caught them with superior boat handling at the turning marks. Eventually, they beat us but by only 48 seconds. Our second-place finish was a win as far as we were concerned because of the narrow victory against a much larger and faster boat.

Summary We had a blast! We highly recommend this boat and crew. The boat is well maintained, the crew is friendly, attentive and competent. Captain Tyler is everything you would want in a...

There are not alot of things more delightful than sailing the Maine coast on a traditional historic schooner.

Schooner American Eagle and Capt Tyler King welcome you aboard with a level of hospitality that is second to none.

Cabins, although small, are still spacious enough to do what you need comfortably and each cabin comes equipped with a sink that delivers fresh drinking water, comfortable beds with reading lamps as well as an overhead light and a fan to keep a nice breeze passing through.

There is a hot shower on board, a library a spacious galley and plenty of space on deck for making new friends and taking in the beautiful scenery all around you!

3 freshly prepared meals and a mid-afternoon appetizer are served daily. The food is locally grown when possible and fresh breads and deserts are regularly baked all week down in the galley on the wood burning stove. Food is top notch and you will never go hungry on board.

Most days they will anchor in a lovely little spot where you can go for a hike or visit a lovely seaside town to stretch your legs and evenings are often spent taking out the smaller boats and enjoying the gorgeous sunsets we get in Maine.

And whether you are on a 3day or a longer trip, a traditional lobster bake will be part of the itinerary. Weather permitting, it will be on one of the many gorgeous islands in the bay.

The crew are always kind and eager to help and the captain quite often plays some music and sings or tells stories in the evenings as everyone winds down.

This is a trip that you will never forget-extremly...

Since I was in full vaca mode I didn't take any pictures, but the schooner was well maintained and very clean. The crew was phenomenal, and I was always impressed with the cleanliness of the heads (bathrooms). Never at any point did we question our safety or the competence of the crew.

This is an experience for any age range. Our passengers ranged in age from 15-80s.

The American Eagle is a beautiful wooden schooner with some original pieces from the 1930s. She is a beautiful and fun piece of US history and a national landmark designated by the National Parks Department. The Captian will provide a full history and answer as many detailed questions as you can come up with.

The food was amazing. They did a great job of matching the food to the weather, e.g. soup on cold days, lighter cool food on warmer days. They were also very accommodating to different dietary needs and allergies.

We did the four day hiking excursion and would gladly go again. We got to see and hike the beautiful islands off the Maine coast, skip rocks across the beach, and get beyond full with an all you can eat beach lobster bake.

In the downtime, we did group crosswords, read, and enjoyed the scenery.

Captain Tyler performed a campfire like song and Maine story read-aloud on the last night. I love being read to aloud. It was the perfect way to end the trip.

We highly recommend this unique experience and experience of a piece of history for...