Woodwind, at 20 years old, is no longer a teenager. She is usually mature enough to handle the sight of seeing other schooners larger than her. But when the recently built Germania Nova came into the harbor, flaunting her 196 feet of gleaming varnish, paint and towering rig, Woodwind gasped. In fact, everyone on board, dropped their collective jaws. Well, not to be undone, Woodwind spread her wings and sailed close by in the light air to taunt Germania Nova into doing the same. Unfortunately, Germania Nova just dropped anchor and later in the day weighed anchor and motored away. She was modeled after Germania, built in 1908 and was a stellar racer. For more information: http://www.germania-nova.com/Germania_Nova.pdf.
To contrast this toy of the rich we also saw the Stanley Norman, a 1902 skip jack. Built as an oyster dredger, she still dredges, but no longer for profit. She is owned by the Save the Bay Foundation which is an highly effective environmental organization. What Stanley Norman harvests she returns back to the water so that her passengers have a better understanding of what makes these waters so vital to the environment.
A modern update of the simplest rig (catboat) sailed by as well. The Nonesuch was designed by Bruce Ellis and is so popular amongst cruisers that the owners have formed a club that that supports many activities. The organization even commissioned an artist to make silver pendants to adorn their owners’ necks.