Here you see the J&E Riggin in Great Cove early yesterday morning; she apparently snuck in the night before. Her published schedule says that she’s on a four-day live music cruise.
The Riggin was built in 1927 as an oyster dredger for Charles Riggin of New Jersey. He named her for his two sons, Jacob and Edward (“J&E”) Riggin. She’s 120 feet long overall with a beam (widest part) of 23 feet. She dredged for oysters in the Delaware Bay area until the 1940s, when she was sold, converted to power, and sent out in search of mackerel and other fish.
In the 1970s, she was sold again and reconverted to a passenger vessel. In the process, her inboard engine was removed to make more room for cabins. Now out of Rockland, Maine, the Riggin still cruises the area waters without an inboard engine; she relies on her diesel-powered yawl boat to push her when she’s not under sail. The yawl boat is lashed to the schooner’s stern with its motor running and is not manned.
And, speaking of being pushed around, that’s exactly what happened yesterday, when the Riggin left Great Cove. Much to our disappointment, she was pushed out by her yawl boat as the sun started to disappear, not a bit of canvas up.
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on May 30, 2022.)