Camden Harbor has sent working schooners into Penobscot Bay since 1769, when the first sawmill opened along the Megunticook River and lumber schooners carried spruce and pine to Boston, Portsmouth, and Halifax. By the 1880s the fleet numbered more than sixty vessels, most built in local yards within sight of Mount Battie. The two-masted gaff rig that defines the Camden schooner was not a romantic choice but a practical one: the design allowed a small crew to handle large sail area in variable coastal winds, and the shallow draft let captains beach their hulls for repairs without a drydock. When the lime and ice trades collapsed after World War I, a handful of captains converted their cargo schooners into passenger vessels, and the windjammer cruise was born. Today Camden remains one of three ports in Maine where historic wooden schooners still sail daily during the season, and the harbor's protected anchorage and proximity to open water make it the most accessible windjammer gateway on the East Coast. Camden Maine sailboat cruises depart from the Public Landing at the foot of Bay View Street, where the stone quay was rebuilt in 1926 to accommodate the growing summer trade. Most vessels are National Historic Landmarks or reproductions of 19th-century designs, their hulls maintained by the same families that have sailed them for three or four generations. The schooner Surprise, launched in 1918 as a cargo vessel and converted to passenger service in 1968, is one of the last working examples of the Gloucester fishing schooner design, with a 57-foot waterline and a bowsprit that extends 15 feet beyond the stem. Sailing tours range from two-hour daylight cruises along the Camden Hills coastline to three-hour sunset charters that round Curtis Island Light and head south toward Islesboro. The boats carry between twelve and twenty-four passengers, and captains typically invite guests to take the helm or handle sheets during offshore legs. Penobscot Bay offers some of the most reliable afternoon thermals in New England, with southwest winds building to twelve knots by mid-afternoon and holding steady until dusk. Porpoises, harbor seals, and Atlantic puffins are common sightings, and ospreys nest on every major offshore island. The schooner fleet operates from late May through mid-October, with the highest frequency of departures in July and August when daylight extends past 8:00 PM.