Sailing

The Gloucester Schooner Festival is a  wonderful celebration of Gloucester's fishing and maritime history during labor day weekend. This year's festival, hosted by Maritime Gloucester,  is Gloucester’s major marine event, with participating vessels coming from ports along the Eastern seaboard and beyond. There will be both large and small vessels—ranging from 19 feet to over 100 feet in length. You will see new boats and old boats, from newly built (Ardelle - launched 2011) to over 100 years old!

Robots come in all shapes and sizes, but in Gloucester this June you'll be able to see demonstrations of one-of-a-kind sail boat robots! SailBot 2013 is an international robotic sailing regatta open to student teams wishing to design, build and compete robotic sailboats. SailBot 2013, the North American competition for robotic sailboats will be held in Gloucester Harbor, Massachusetts. This year's event is hosted by Olin College and the City of Gloucester and includes 19 teams, including Gloucester High School, seven other high school teams and teams from several universities.

War of 1812 Day at Salem Maritime National Historic Site! Salem Maritime will be celebrating the Bicentennial of the War of 1812 with living history programming throughout the day. Meet some of Salem's 19th century citizens, and hear their views on this controversial war. Family activities and Junior Ranger programs will be offered all day.

Essex National Heritage Area sites will offer nearly 200 free family fun events over the weekends of September 21-23 and September 28-30 for the 11th annual celebration of TRAILS & SAILS. Participants can hike, bike, paddle, stroll or sail through the region and Essex National Heritage Area will provide a passport to FREE fun and adventure.

The HMS Bounty will come to Gloucester on Saturday, September 1 and stay through the weekend offering public tours as part of the Gloucester Schooner Festival 2013! Tours will run Saturday and Sunday 10am-5pm.

Head to Salem to celebrates the city's maritime heritage that's been over 400 years in the making! There will be plenty of fun family activities throughout the downtown areas of Derby Wharf and Commercial Wharf!

The HMS Bounty will come to Newburyport on Friday July 13 and stay through the weekend offering public tours! Tours will run Friday 10am-3pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am-5pm. In addition to tours of the Bounty there will be entertainment at waterfront park for everyone visiting the Bounty and Newburyport.

Welcome aboard the Schooner Thomas E. Lannon for a 1.5 hour sail about historic Gloucester Harbor. Help Captain Tom Ellis and his crew raise the sails or just relax and enjoy the views of castles, lighthouses, and the working waterfront. Let your imagination take you back 100 years when Gloucester's harbor was full of working Schooners.

Join members of theWenham Museum education staff and the Marblehead Model Yacht Club in learning how to sail model ships on Pleasant Pond in Wenham. Try your hand at this 100 year old summer past time. If you enjoy these models, visit the museum’s miniature world of trains and dollhouses with special museum admission pricing for Trails and Sails participants.

Grab your windbreaker, sunglasses and a pair of binoculars for the ride of a lifetime! Essex Heritage, in partnership with the National Park Service, is thrilled to offer this historic opportunity to be the second passenger-crew ever aboard Friendship of Salem. The adventure begins when she travels to and participates in the annual Gloucester Schooner Festival over Labor Day Weekend, September 3 & 4, 2011!