Why Choose Mary Day?

People with binoculars birdwatching on the schooner Mary Day

Binoculars are handy for all cruises. This is from the Naturalist/Photography Cruise.

  • Celebrating 50 years as Maine’s first schooner launched just for windjammer cruises. That means she was built with your comfort in mind.
  • We rebuilt and refurbished her in 2000 — and didn’t stop there. We continue to upgrade her every year.
  • The open, uncluttered decks provide ample space to stretch out and relax.
  • Cabins have windows, skylights, and 9 feet of headroom, for plenty of fresh air. (Tour our accommodations here.)
  • She is the only windjammer with heat in every cabin. The wood-fired heat keeps things dry and wards off the occasional evening chill.
  • There’s an all-you-can-eat lobster picnic on every cruise.
  • Delicious “Down-east” fare prepared from scratch and baked to perfection, all in our antique wood-burning cookstove.
  • We are the owners/operators. We are educators with graduate degrees in education. We’ve been sailing Penobscot Bay for three decades and wouldn’t miss sharing this experience with you. We’ll help you get more from your adventure.
  • There’s no noisy inboard engine, just pure sails.
  • Mary Day is Coast Guard inspected and impeccably maintained by our dedicated crew.
  • 28 guests, 6 crew, 1 magnificent coastline — and no itinerary! (Suggested minimum age for passengers is 15 years.)

See our schedule of windjammer cruises.

Some of our trips have special themes:

Learn to Sail with Our Wooden Boat Course

Combine a desire to learn to sail with an adventurous vacation on a Maine windjammer in collaboration with the Wooden Boat School. Find out more about our Wooden Boat Course.

Lighthouse Cruises to see Maine’s Lighthouses

Once again we are offering our lighthouse theme cruises which combines coastal sailing with seeing Maine lighthouses with Ted and Jo Panyatoff. See Maine’s lighthouses on the Schooner Mary Day’s Lighthouse Cruise.

Natural History Cruises aboard a Maine Windjammer

These 6-day cruises offer a chance to explore the coast with a local naturalist. Pelagic birds and lighthouse history will be an added feature of our June 8th cruise. Sharpen your photography skills, with photographer & web guru Jim Dugan, on our June 22nd cruise. Natural History Cruise, Natural History & Photography Cruise.

The Great Schooner Race

The Great Schooner Race turns this vacation getaway into a chance to experience Maine schooners and tall ships. (Mary Day has won a number of times but has been bested enough to make it a great race.)  Great Schooner Race Cruise.

Sweet Chariot Folk Festival

From Camden, Maine, the Mary Day will anchor at Swan’s Island for an evening of some incredible folk music.  Enjoy a Maine musical vacation from a windjammer on Schooner Mary Day’s Sweet Chariot Folk Festival.

Windjammer Weekend

Camden celebrates the 1935 founding of the sailing vacation industry right here in town with concerts, plays, a schooner talent show, and fireworks on Friday night. See Camden’s Windjammer Festival from Schooner Mary Day.

Wooden Boat Rendezvous

Celebrate the final gathering of the fleet at the headquarters of Wooden Boat Magazine, Brooklin, Maine. A unique opportunity to visit the Woodenn Boat School, and enjoy food, dancing to Flash in the Pans Community Steel Band. Vacation with Maine’s boating and sailing community on Schooner Mary Day’s Wooden Boat Rendezvous.