Farewell to the Shenandoah

A bit of hometown news: the topsail schooner Shenandoah has made her last sail. Coverage here from the Vineyard Gazette.

I was one of the many thousands of lucky island schookids to spend a week aboard her, in sixth grade. That’s me above with my dad, who was a chaperone, and our teacher, John Budris, at right.

The boat was built by the late Bob Douglas in 1964 and had a wooden hull and no engine whatsoever—a true sailboat.

We have been friends with the Douglas family since the 1970s and went on the schooner a number of other times.

There are plans to build a Shenandoah II and I certainly hope it happens.

Here is the Gazette’s archive of coverage.