I feel like beginning this post with the old cheer, “The King is dead! Long live the King!” But no. That is hardly apt. How about “the schooner Shenandoah is for Sale! Long Live Shenandoah 2.0!” That still is not quite right, but it is closer. Here is the story.

Toward the end of May, an advertisement published in Boats and Harbors and then picked up on Facebook by Marlinspike Magazine, said the schooner Shenandoah was for sale for $850,000.

The Shenandoah is a 108-foot (33 m) square topsail schooner built in Maine in 1964, which has been in service carrying passengers and as an educational vessel from Martha’s Vineyard, MA. Inspired by sharp-built Baltimore clippers, the Shenandoah is said to be the only schooner in the world of her size and topsail rig without an engine.

The schooner Shenandoah is one of two schooners operated by Black Dog Tall Ships under the direction of Captain Morgan Douglas. 

Then in early July, the news broke that what Martha’s Vineyard Times describes as a “kindred organization” to Black Dog Tall Ships was undertaking to facilitate the construction and future operation of a new steel-hulled Shenandoah 2.0 to operate out of Vineyard Haven.  The new organization led by Capt. Ian Ridgeway is a nonprofit for maritime learning, the Foundation for Underway Experiential Learning (FUEL). 

Whereas Shenandoah is 170 tons, Shenandoah 2.0 is projected to be 240 tons. Shenandoah 2.0’s length at the rail will be 118 feet. Shenandoah 2.0 will also have an engine.

Shenandoah 2.0 is expected to cost between $4 and $4.5 million. Maine shipyard Washburn and Doughty has been selected to construct the schooner once funding goals are met.

And so, while the Shenandoah has been offered for sale, there are no reported buyers yet, and while the plans for the new steels schooner are in place, no doubt considerable fundraising remains to be done. So perhaps the cheer should be the “schooner Shenandoah yet lives! Good luck with the Shenandoah 2.0!”