Sail, Martha's Vineyard by Thomas Hale hen one thinks of Martha ' s Vineyard, sunounded by the Atlantic Ocean and Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds, blessed with the warm waters south of Cape Cod and almost dail y afternoon sou' west winds, most people cannot help but assoc iate the island with sailing. Indeed , it is true that on almost any day in three seasons of the year the waters are dotted with scores if not hundreds of sails-everything from sai ling dinghies to our own sq uare topsail schooner Shenandoah. In fact, Vineyard Haven is certainly one of the wooden-boat capitals of the country , with an eclectic fleet of historic vessels and dozens of other boats with almost every rig imaginable, including a Zulu! Add four boat yards, a commercial fish dock and the active ferry tenninal , and one begins to get the picture of a community rich in nautical tradition and activity. Yet it is also a fac t that of Island you ngsters- those who live here yearround and whose parents are teachers or work in the service occupations that keep the Vineyard functioning as a resort- until recently less than a third had ever been aboard a boat smaller than the fe rri es from Woods Hole! Island sailors have competed in national and international sai Iing regattas , and their trophies are impress ive, but almost all these yo ung people are summer fo lk . For years many of us have been concerned about this and efforts have been made to introduce yo ungsters to rowing, sa iling and the ability to handl e o ne's own boat. In the earl y 1990s it took the enthu siasm and energy of people like Nancy Hoffmann , Joe Hall (of the renowned Black Dog Tavern), woodenboat designer and bu i Ider Nat Benjam in , Walter Cronk ite (a dedicated sai lor and believer in America's mari time heritage), and a number of others to do something to make the Island as a whole more aware of its rich background through a new organization. Sail, Martha's Vineyard started out by encourag-
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ing vessels to visit our harbors and hold open houses, bringing in vessels like the Ernestina, the Gaze/a , the Nantucket lightship, Bounty, Rose, and others, large and small. Last summer our featured guest was the eastern dragger Roann, recently donated to Mystic Seaport as an exam pie of the rapid! y disappearing type of boat that succeeded the great Gloucester fishing schooners . Si multaneously, Nat Benjamin designed a beg inning-youngster's sailboat, in wood , of course. She is the Periwinkle - lapstrake , square-s terned , with a rockered bottom , a centerboard with a standing lug rig and an outboard rudder. We now have a fl eet of them , some built by Nat' s own yard, others by the Martha 's Vineyard Shipyard. On one of the Vineyard ' s many sa ltwater ponds Sail, MY has established its own sailing center where beg inners and intermediates are taught rowing, sailing and the fundamentals of racing. In the local prestigiou s yacht clubs, fe w of even the sailing instructors know how to row! At SMV the participants are taught to row early on, as they should be. They learn thi s skill in "The Periwinkl e Jr.," a 9 ' rowing sk iff they build themselves in the Island school s. A wooden boat building program has produced seven such vessels. T he cl asses are open only to students enrolled yearround in the Vineyard schoo ls, and the program is supported by Island businesses and individual s. Other boats have been donated so that more ex peri enced youngsters get a chance to sail in more sophisticated craft such as the ubiquitous 420. In the spring two of the Isl and yacht clubs have donated the use of the ir waterfront fac ilities and some of their boats so that an interscholastic high school racing team has been es ta bl ished. The
cl asses have grown every year, and this past summer we had almost 80 chi ldren actively invo lved. Thi s represents over 7,500 hours of sailing instruction since the program began in 1994. Often they get to sail on some of the larger boats in the harbors, such as Shenandoah and the growing fleet of charter boats. Sail , Martha's Vi neyard 's mi ssion statement describes its aim s: To encourage Island residents to be comfortable in and around the water ... ; support educational programs in our public schools and familiarize Island children with maritime traditions of Martha's Vineyard ... ; attract interesting and historic vessels to the Istand and support such local vessels so the Island residents can experience first hand the sailing ships of days past; sponsor programs that in other ways explore the maritime heritage of the Island in all its many fa cets; and to serve as a clearinghouse for other maritime-related organizations and initiatives on the Island." This remarkably successful initiative shows every sign of continuing to achieve its goal and is something that other communities would do well to emu late. .t
Sa il, Martha ' s Vineyard, I I 0 Main St. , PO Box 1998 , Vineyard Haven MA 02568; 508 696-7644. Mr. Hale,former owner of the Martha' s Vineyard Shipyard, is a board member of SMV , as well as an Honorary Trustee ofNMHS .
Island children e>.perience th e challenge and excitement of sailing through Sail, Martha ' s Vineyard.
SEA HISTORY 84, SPRING 1998
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