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Phoenix First Mate Kurt Spitzner rinses off the deck after scraping some rust off the steel-hulled sailboat launched in 1984.
Lines are tied on the Phoenix railing. The boat
Capt. Dennis Watson (left) and First Mate Kurt Spitzner do some sanding on the Phoenix docked in Colonial Beach
Capt. Dennis Watson plans to offer half- and full-day trips |
• Story by RUSTY DENNEN
• Photographs by REBECCA SELL
FROM SHORE, the schooner Phoenix looks like a ghost from the past, her two masts reaching into a robin-egg blue sky, and freshly painted white hull unlike any other boat floating nearby.
The 71-foot sailboat, which will become a floating classroom and charter venue for paying clients beginning this summer and fall, rests serenely against a pier at Colonial Beach Yacht Center.
Capt. Dennis Watson and First Mate Kurt Spitzner have been getting her ready this week for a two-day, 185-mile sail to Beaufort, N.C., for America's Sail, an international tall ships gathering. They will depart Sunday and expect to return July 5.
"Every day there's something to do" to keep up a boat of this size, says Watson, who grew up on New York's Long Island and recently moved his boat and business to the Potomac River town. He and his wife, Bette Ann, live in Spotsylvania County.
Once a year, Phoenix's steel hull has to be chipped and painted--stem to stern. There are lines, mechanical and electric equipment to be maintained, supplies to buy and stow.
"You're always touching up something," he said.
With its steel hull, Phoenix handles differently than wooden vessels.
"It's a heavy boat. In light winds, it doesn't go," Watson says. But it's a different story when the wind blows. "I've had it out in 40 knots and when most boats are going home, this boat comes into its own."
Phoenix is a replica of a 1900s coastal schooner, launched on Long Island's Patchogue boat yard in 1984. It has four sails, draws 6 feet of water and has an inboard diesel engine. Its main mast is 60 feet high and it's 16 feet wide.
Phoenix ran cargo between Port Jefferson, N.Y., and Bridgeport, Conn., then it started carrying passengers.
The boat is the only model of its kind with a pilot house. And it has an unusual rounded, rather than square, stern. The term "schooner" comes from the Scottish word "scun," meaning to skip a flat stone across water. Schooners have two or more masts, with a distinctive taller main mast.
Schooners used to ply Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries in the 1800s and early 1900s, carrying cargo, commodities and passengers. They're a rare sight these days, though pods of them can be seen from time to time in events such as The Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race. Eight of the tall ships will be in October's race.
In the late 1980s, Phoenix was sold to the Nassau County (New York) Board of Cooperative Educational Services, which used the vessel for its marine biology program.
After that, Watson says, it was sold again and moved to the Bahamas, where it was based until 1993.
Watson and his nonprofit educational company, Coastal Ecology Learning Program, purchased the craft that year and returned it to Long Island Sound.
"When we got it, it was in disrepair," said Watson, who is captain and president of the company.
With a short gray beard and wisp of gray hair, Watson, 62, looks the part of sea captain, but he's a teacher by training.
"I grew up on Long Island and I've been sailing most of my life," he said. He's been sailing commercially since 1987.
He's certified to teach grades kindergarten through 12. He left the profession in the 1970s, "when there was an excess of teachers on Long Island," he recalled.
Phoenix offered a unique opportunity.
"We combined our love of sailing with a love of teaching," he said.
About 6,000 students took part in the Coastal Ecology Learning Program each year while the boat was based in New York.
He's trying to get the word out about the program to teachers and school administrators here.
He typically takes out groups of 30 students--fourth-graders and older--and they stop by hands-on learning stations onboard. For example, one group drags a net behind the boat to capture marine life while another does water-quality testing. Sailing is also part of the instruction.
What's offered, "really depends upon the needs of the school," Watson said.
Carolann James, who coordinates outdoor and environmental education programs in Nassau County in New York, said Phoenix offers something most students can't get anywhere else.
"We've been working with CELP for quite a few years here, and it brings hands-on science to the classroom," she said. Even on Long Island, where water abounds, "there are kids who have never been out on a boat, never gone fishing. There are active learning stations on board, and we try to tie them into schools' curriculum."
Watson noted that sixth-graders in Virginia study watersheds as part of the state's Standards of Learning. There are half-day and full-day outings. The half-day programs cost $395 for 30 students.
"We lose money on our educational programs, so we need charters to make it up," Watson said. He's put out brochures at the marina to attract corporate clients and people who want to celebrate special events in a unique setting.
Watson discovered the Fredericksburg area through his son, Christopher, who attended the University of Mary Washington and settled down here.
"We have two grandchildren and that's the reason we decided to move down," Watson said.
He chose Colonial Beach Yacht Center because it was accessible and close to the bay.
Kyle Schick, owner of the marina, says he's had his share of large and unusual boats, but Phoenix is different.
"This is the largest sailboat we've had in our 18 years operating the marina," he said. He's had power boats over 100 feet long, but says people seem to be drawn by large sailboats.
Watson was lucky because Schick recently added the large floating dock to the marina on Monroe Bay. The yacht center recently had a 104-foot paddlewheeler moored in the same area.
"When people see a boat that size, they want to come down and take a look," Schick said.
Watson said that while other large sailboats operate charters in Virginia, Phoenix stands apart because of its educational focus.
"As far as I know, we're the only one down here doing this. I'm anticipating we'll be very busy."
For now, he's commuting from Spotsylvania to work on the boat.
After America's Sail, Phoenix will return to Colonial Beach through Labor Day weekend. Then, it's back up to Long Island for education trips in the fall, and he'll be returning here in October.
He expects Phoenix to be permanently based in Colonial Beach starting next year. Another boat will take over the CELP program on Long Island.
Meanwhile, Watson is living a life most landlubbers can only imagine.
He laughs, "My family doesn't think I work for a living. I can't come home and say, 'I've had a tough day.'"
ON THE NET: For more information on the Phoenix and the Coastal Ecology Learning Program
schoonerphoenix.com
To reach RUSTY DENNEN:
Email: rdennen@freelancestar.com
