Here you see Belford Gray in graceful repose as the incoming fog is about to envelop her. She’s a small Friendship sloop modelled after the iconic Maine fishing boats that sailed primarily in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. These beautiful vessels reportedly were first conceived and built in and around the Town of Friendship in Maine’s Muscongus Bay area.
Friendship sloops typically have a bowsprit above a sharp clipper bow, a breathtaking sheer that swoops back to low deck areas, overhanging and elliptical transoms (stern ends), and a full keel below waterline. If ever there were a three-dimensional illustrations of the word “slick,” they are it.
The low aft portions are designed to make it easier for one or two fishermen to haul nets and traps out of the water. Note the Belford’s many halyards (ropes for hoisting sails). Typically, Friendship sloops have five sails when fully rigged. Yet, they are very maneuverable and often were left by fishermen to “sail themselves.”
Nonetheless, the Belford is not used for fishing. She was created by a series of WoodenBoat School students and volunteers and launched in 1992 as a schooling vessel. She’s 28½ feet long with a 9½ - foot beam (widest part), according to WBS data. Her name honors Belford Gray, a WBS instructor who was a highly regarded wooden boatbuilder. (Image taken in Brooklin, Maine, on June 29, 2023.) Click on image to enlarge it.