Schooner STEPHEN TABER 1871 Painting by James Williamson

Schooner STEPHEN TABER 1871

by James Williamson

Canvas Print

$70

Framed Print

$88

Art Print

$22

Poster

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Metal Print

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Acrylic Print

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Wood Print

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Tapestry

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Throw Pillow

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Fleece Blanket

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Duvet Cover

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Shower Curtain

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Bath Towel

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Ornament

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Jigsaw Puzzle

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Tote Bag

$24

Weekender Tote Bag

$43

Zip Pouch

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Portable Battery Charger

$47

Yoga Mat

$60

Greeting Card

$4.95

Spiral Notebook

$15

Sticker

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iPhone Case

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Beach Towel

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Round Beach Towel

$70

Weekender Tote Bag

$43

Coffee Mug

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Men's Clothing

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Women's Clothing

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Youth Clothing

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Toddler Clothing

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Baby Clothing

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Title

Schooner STEPHEN TABER 1871

Artist

James Williamson

Medium

Painting - Watercolor

Description

Stephen Taber is one of my favorite schooner subjects to paint. I have created a number of images of this beautiful vessel. Schooner STEPHEN TABER 1871 is the latest offering. Watercolor brings out the bright elements of sunlit sails and light on the water. A portrait of a gallant vessel.

Artist James Williamson ASMA,
Signature Member of the American Society of Marine Artists

Schooner STEPHEN TABER
The Stephen Taber was christened and slipped into the waters of Hempstead Harbor in October 1871. She is the oldest ship documented in continuous service in the American merchant marine. A local reporter of the day noted, “The schooner Stephan Taber was launched from the yard of Mr. Bedel, Glenwood, on Thurs. of last week. She is a well-built, natty schooner-she bears a good name, and no doubt will prove a profitable investment for all concerned.” She has certainly done all that, maintaining her full-sail status in the process, and is still in profitable service.

Named after a member of one of Long Island’s famous Taber family, she has her home port in Camden, Maine, and is regularly advertised with a number of other so-called “windjammers” in the travel section of the New York Times. Each Monday from June to September she sails on week-long cruises out of Camden with a crew of six and up to 23 passengers. When he rebuilt her in 1981, her owner, Captain Kenneth (“O.K.”) Barnes, and his wife Ellen anticipated at least another century of service for the sturdy wooden-hulled vessel. The schooner’s dimensions: length, 68 feet; beam, 22 feet; tonnage 47, gross.

The STEPHEN TABER can claim to be unique and to have set a record. With the exception of short periods of time for repairs, the schooner has remained in service continuously for 142 years under the same name and with the same rig. For the largest part of the vessels life it earned money as a freighter.

Equipped with a centerboard, but otherwise with a small draft, the schooner could be loaded and reloaded in shallow waters as well. The care of her various owners guaranteed that she was always very seaworthy and would have a long life. The last very-extensive overhaul was completed in 1981-1982.

Today, instead of cargo, passengers are taken aboard the sailing schooner cruising off the island-rich coast of Maine, United States of America.

Two-masted fore-and-aft schooner; wood; Nation: USA; Home Port: Rockland, Maine; Year of Construction: 1871; Shipyard: Van Cott Shipyard, Glenhead, New York; Tonnage: 72 tons displacement; 50.30 tons gross; 41 tons net; Dimensions: Length Overall: 35 m; Length of Hull: 20.70 m; Width: 6.80 m; Draft: Centerboard up: 1.50 m; Centerboard Down: 4.30 m; Sail Area: 325 Square Meters; Rigging: 4 Sails; Masts: Height of mainmast over the deck: 17.40 m; Auxiliary Engine: None; Crew: 4-person active crew, 24 guests; Use: Chartered Ship, Passenger Ship.

Schooner ‘Oh! How she Schoons’
The basic two-masted schooner rig may be described as a purely fore and aft rig having a single headsail, gaff foresail (usually with a boom), and a gaff and boom mainsail wide in the foot and generally taller than the foresail. Other sails may be set: a jib or jibs; jib topsail; gaff topsails; a topmast staysail; and square fore topsails; without altering the type name of schooner. More masts may be added, three being common in Europe and between four and five in America, where six or seven masters were also built. Schooners were built for cargo carrying, fishing, pilot services, as minor warships, privateersmen, for surveying, smuggling and slave carrying.

The commonly quoted reference to the origin of the schooner is that it was devised at Glouster, Massachusetts, about 1713 by Andrew Robinson in a vessel at whose launch a spectator cried ‘Oh, how she schoons’ and of course Captain Robinson instantly replied, ‘A schooner let her be!’ There is no word ‘schoon’ in English and as the account was written on oral evidence in 1790 it seems quite improbable. It may be true, but extremely doubtful, that Robinson built the first schooner-rigged craft in North America, but she was certainly antedated by vast numbers of English and Dutch craft which were not then named schooners but had previously developed the rig, which was probably taken to America by colonists from those countries.