| Specifications of SSV Bowdoin | |
|---|---|
| Operations: | Sail Training |
| Class: | B |
| Rig: | Gaff Rigged Schooner |
| Home Port: | Castine, Maine, USA |
| MMSI: | 303498000 |
SSV Bowdoin is a class B gaff rigged schooner.
Schooner Bowdoin was built for Arctic exploration and now serves as a sail training vessel.
Rich in history, Bowdoin was originally commissioned by explorer Donald B. MacMillan in 1921 for Arctic exploration. MacMillan sold Bowdoin to the U.S. Navy for use in World War II during the Greenland Patrol. After WWII, MacMillan bought the ship back for $3,000 and continued to sail her for nine more years around Greenland. Bowdoin has made almost 30 trips above the Arctic Circle, 25 of them before 1955 under the command of Capt. MacMillan.
After MacMillan’s retirement, the boat belonged to the Schooner Bowdoin Association until 1988 when Maine Maritime Academy (MMA), a public, co-educational college located in the coastal town of Castine, Maine, U.S.A. purchased the vessel for the purpose of training students.
Bowdoin is the flagship of Maine Maritime Academy’s Vessel Operations and Technology Program and the official vessel of the state of Maine. Every summer, the Bowdoin takes courses of Academy students up and down the eastern seaboard, and she spends the fall doing day sails and weekend trips from MMA’s waterfront in Castine.
