The schooner Appledore IV is owned and operated by BaySail, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Bay City, Michigan. Tall ship adventures aboard Appledore IV further BaySail’s mission to “foster environmental stewardship of the Saginaw Bay watershed and the Great Lakes ecosystem and to provide personal development opportunities for learners of all ages through shipboard and land-based educational experiences.” Since its founding in 1998, more than 48,000 young people have experienced a BaySail education program.

APPLEDORE V

Vessel Type: Gaff Schooner
Flag: USA
Homeport: Bay City, MI
Sparred length: 65’
Draft: 8’
Beam: 14’
Rig Height: 63’ 6”
Sail Area: 1,444 square feet
Power: 90 HP Diesel
Hull: Steel

The schooner Appledore V is owned and operated by BaySail, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Bay City, Michigan. Appledore V was the fifth in a series of Appledore schooners commissioned by Herb and Doris Smith and launched in 1992. Traverse Tall Ship Company purchased Appledore V from the Smiths and sailed her under the name Westwind. BaySail acquired the ship in 2002 and changed her name back to Appledore V. She joins sister ship Appledore IV as an education and sail training vessel operating around the Great Lakes.

Bluenose II is an international sailing ambassador and is home ported in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. The vessel’s main purpose is to promote tourism for Nova Scotia and make the ship available for short day cruises. The mission is to promote the history and legacy of Bluenose & Bluenose II and to teach and promote seamanship and life skills in young Canadians.

Bluenose II is a replica of the original Bluenose, which was built in 1921 in Lunenburg. Under Captain Angus Walters, she became famous as winner of the International Fishermen’s Series of schooner races from that date until her last race in 1938. Bluenose was featured on a Canadian postage stamp in 1928 and on the Canadian dime in 1937, where she can still be seen today. The original Bluenose was lost in 1946 on a reef near Haiti.

Bluenose II, built in 1963, is owned by the Province of Nova Scotia. Bluenose II is operated and maintained by the Lunenburg Marine Museum Society, which also operates the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic.

Over 900 volunteers completed Discovery World's tall ship, the Sailing Vessel Denis Sullivan. This replica of a Great Lakes schooner, and Flagship of Wisconsin, operates as a floating classroom and goodwill ambassador for the State of Wisconsin. From her homeport in Milwaukee on Lake Michigan, the S/V Denis Sullivan offers educational day sails and private charters for people of all ages from May through September and is committed to re-establishing the historical, cultural and environmental bonds between the community and one of its most valuable resources.

The Maritime Heritage Alliance’s schooner Madeline is a reconstruction of a mid-19th century Great Lakes schooner and one of the State of Michigan's official tall ships. She was built between 1985 and 1990 in Traverse City, Michigan by volunteer members of the Maritime Heritage Alliance.

Her mission is to serve as a floating center for the interpretation of Great Lakes maritime history. She is open to visitors in her home port of Traverse City and travels to other Great Lakes ports under local sponsorship. Madeline's financial support comes entirely from people who are interested in preserving Great Lakes history. This includes MHA members and others around the Great Lakes who believe in the Alliance’s mission.

The Flagship Niagara is one of the most historically authentic tall ships in the United States. As an accurate reproduction of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry’s victorious flagship from the War of 1812’s Battle of Lake Erie, the ship represents both Pennsylvania and her homeport of Erie in ports throughout the Great Lakes.

The ship currently offers three distinctive educational programs to the public. These include educational day sails, an individual trainee program, and for-credit high school and college programs. The day sail program allows the public to sail for an afternoon or evening and experience the life of a sailor. The individual training program integrates trainees into the regular crew for two to three weeks.

Finally, the Flagship Niagara’s institutional partnerships with schools have linked the vessel to some of the most prestigious educational institutions in the country. Students receive full credit for being onboard and are taught by accredited faculty from their respective institution. All students and trainees can expect a highly authentic onboard living experience, including sleeping in hammocks, and meals cooked off of a woodstove.

The schooner Perception, operated by Michigan Challenge Traditional Sail Training, is a 68-foot steel-hulled schooner built in New Zealand in 1985 from plans designed by the famous naval architect L. Francis Herreshoff in 1924. She is gaff-rigged, and her Sitka spruce masts stand 70 feet tall. She is fitted with teak woodwork throughout. The previous owner, a prominent east coast architect, sailed her from New Zealand to Australia, Brazil, the Galapagos, the Caribbean, and Portugal.

In 2017 Michigan Challenge Traditional Sail Training purchased her to fulfill their mission of teaching traditional sailing methods to Gold Star Teens (children of fallen military heroes), children of deployed, wounded, or ill veterans, grieving youth, and veterans and their families. They intend to provide a memorable and life-changing experience to their clients absolutely tuition-free.

From experience, the leaders of Michigan Challenge Traditional Sail Training know that learning a new skill, being in the company of friends who understand and have had similar experiences, and being with nature on a quiet sailboat on a breezy summer day can have a tremendous effect on one’s state of mind and outlook on life. Being on a classic tall ship can transcend time and widen a young person’s world of experience.

The 284-ton Barque Picton Castle is a traditionally rigged and operated sail training ship based in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, but is probably best known for her voyages around the world. Over the past 15 years, the ship has made five voyages around the world, one around the Atlantic Ocean, two trips to the Great Lakes and countless other jaunts up and down the coasts of the U.S. and Canada. Along the way she’s introduced more than 1,000 people to the rewards of square-rigged sailing.

In 2006, Tall Ships America awarded Picton Castle the Sail Training Program of the Year. In 2011, Capt. Daniel Moreland, was named Sail Trainer of the Year by Sail Training International. In October 2012, Picton Castle cast off on an 8-month exploration of the Pacific Ocean. Ports of call included Grenada and Portobelo, Panama on the Atlantic Ocean, then after transiting the famous Panama Canal it was on to the Galapagos, Pitcairn Island, Mangareva, Tahiti, Bora Bora, the Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga.

As a training ship, all on board work, stand watch, and learn the ways of a square-rigged sailing ship. Workshops are conducted in wire and rope rigging, sail making, boat handling, navigation, and practical seamanship. The ship also delivers much-needed educational materials and other supplies to the remote islands she visits.

Pride of Baltimore II is a topsail schooner built to the lines of an 1812-era Baltimore Clipper. She is Maryland’s working symbol of the great natural resources and spectacular beauty of the Chesapeake Bay region and a reminder of America’s rich maritime heritage. Pride of Baltimore II’s mission is to educate the public on Maryland’s maritime history, tradition and commerce opportunities.

Pride of Baltimore II is available for charter and for dockside and sailing receptions in each of her destinations as well as public day sails. She can accommodate up to six paying passengers as “working guest crew” between ports of call. Pride of Baltimore II maintains an international sailing schedule. She sails with two rotating professional captains and a crew of eleven.

The Nao Santa Maria is a replica of a 15th century square sail ship, built to celebrate Huelva’s 525th anniversary. This project embodies the goal of retracing history in an effort to promote the combination of heritage, tourism, and regional culture utilizing a vessel that was once the vehicle of these encounters between worlds centuries ago. The Nao Santa Maria serves as a traveling ambassador for the province of Huelva to all the Spanish, European, and American ports the ship visits.

Nao Santa Maria’s sister ship, the 16th century replica El Galeón Andalucía, visited Bay City in July 2016 and welcomed thousands of visitors aboard.

The S.T.V. St. Lawrence II, owned and operated by Brigantine Incorporated, is a custom built sailing ship that serves as a platform for immersive outdoor adventure programs. The ship was built by Kingston shipyards in 1953 to a design by Francis MacLachlan and Mike Eames.

Brigantine Incorporated is dedicated to empowering, connecting, and inspiring youth through the challenges of sailing a traditionally rigged ship. Through experiential learning and skills development they build confidence, strength, and leadership in the ship's crew, while broadening horizons and inspiring them to be a positive force in the world.

Brigantine Incorporated is also committed to preserving rare maritime skills and heritage, promoting respect for the natural environment, and providing the training and experience required to become an outstanding professional mariner.