| backyard traveler |
sailing
lessons in
Aboard the J. & E. Riggin, a National Historic Landmark STORY BY JUDY GARRISON PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEN GARRISON
A young man hopped on top of the schooner’s hatch, bending and bouncing into a comfortable sitting position. He adjusted his ball cap and with an electric smile shouted, “Hello.” With an audience of 15 would-be sailors gathered on the deck of the 120-foot, two-masted J. & E. Riggin schooner in the harbor of Rockland, Maine, Captain Justin Schaefer’s welcome prepared us for our fiveday, music-themed voyage on Penobscot Bay and the life-lessons we would come to learn. Built in 1927 as an oyster dredger for Charles Riggin of New Jersey and named after his two sons, Jacob and Edward, the J. & E. Riggin is one of few passenger vessels that remain. Part of her glory lies in her claim to having won the only official oyster schooner race on the Delaware Bay; that was 1929. She was rebuilt and
76 LAKE OCONEE LIVING | SPRING 2024