Coast Guard Inspection

The model for this painting is Sarah, the messmate on schooner American Eagle. She makes a wicked good pie, but she’s also a volunteer firefighter, which makes her singularly qualified to ply the firehose. In the off-season, she’s a maritime historian. You never know who you’ll find on the wharf, but you can start with the assumption that they have a varied and interesting background.

Windjammers are subject to intensive safety checks before they ever take passengers out to see the sea. This was just one small part of the inspection, which checks the vessel’s seaworthiness, its safety equipment, the crew’s training and more.