The former Camden cruise schooner ROSEWAY was re-launched this spring in Boothbay Harbor after a deck-to-keel rebuild at Sample’s shipyard.
The 137-foot ROSEWAY is set to begin taking students to sea this summer under the flag of the fledgling World Ocean School of Camden. Further fitting out of the old schooner will continue at dockside. The school hopes to raise a total of $1.5 million to restore ROSEWAY.
Built in 1925 as a yacht at the James shipyard in Essex, Massachusetts, ROSEWAY was at one time a diesel-powered pilot boat in Boston Harbor. In the 1970s, she was purchased by Captains Jim Sharp of Camden and Orvil Young of Lincolnville. Young said she was always “a good sea boat.” They sailed her out of Camden for the next 14 years, then sold her to George Sloane, who lost his U.S. Coast Guard license to carry passengers and defaulted on a $250,000 loan. U.S. Marshals then seized ROSEWAY, and the First National Bank of Damariscotta decided to donate it to World Ocean School.
“ROSEWAY” is said to be the original owner’s jibe at his lady friend, as in “Rose gets her way.”