European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 05, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                By Kay Bartlett associated press jame1 w Sharp never dreamed he would became Captain Jim. Gelling up each morning and going where the wind would Lake him through soupy fog and chilling rain the kind Only the coast of Maine can cough up. Nor did he imagine skipping along go 14 knots so the Captain of the adventure the Queen of the Maine windjammers through the brightest and spar Liesl Days As ospreys fished alongside an occasional Dolphin surfaced and seals Dove for fish. As the Day ends. Captain Sharp Skippers the adventure to one of the Many Island harbours for the passengers kind of dude ranchers of sailing to Admire the Beauty and maybe go ashore Tor a lobster feast. The dream came late As did his love affair with the adventure the second largest of Tho Maine windjammers. She is also the fastest and the last Sun Ivor of the ships trawlers that sailed out of Gloucester and Boston braving Tierce Winter storms to get to the Lishing Banks Oil the northeastern coast. I know it sounds awfully corny but i count my blessings every Day Sharp says. I have no idea where we re Point in the mornings. There Are jus so Many places to go. I just to where the wind takes me. There is no direction no itinerary. We Don t do the same thing every week. Ii you re going to do that you might As Well run a ferry  Sharp was a Philadelphia boy who entered the finance business he inherited irom his lather. His nautical experience was limited to email Craft he sailed of the shores of new Jersey. He drat met the adventure in 1957 As a paying customer on a cruise and he never dreamed that someday he would own this 121-foot Schooner with a history that aptly fit her name. It was t love at first sight. Sharp did not have the Eye to recognize the thoroughbred she was As he first stepped aboard. Today he s the expert and with the help of author and Sailor Joseph e. Garland Sharp wrote a Book called adventure Queen of the windjammers. Sharp had a yen Tor the sea Long before he became Captain of the adventure. Four years after his windjammer cruise Sharp gave up finance and went into the charter business in the Bahamas with a 45-foot yawl. It was then that i Learned the Captain can do As he Durn pleases. That s what i  he then took a summer Job working on two other Maine windjammers the Mattie and the mercantile. He did t much like it and could t wait to get Back to the Bahamas. "1 thought then that anyone who lived North of the Mason Dixon line must be crazy. But that Winter after i got Back to the Bahamas i started missing Maine the islands the Trees. Maine is 3 Way of life. It s a psychological place. I realized then that Maine had gotten under my  Sharp admired the adventure As she sailed throughout Penobscot Bay off Camden and longed to own her. In 1965, he was Able to buy the old lady of the fishing schooners. I bought her for the proverbial song he says. She was basically sound but she was in terrible shape. I had to chop ice to get below and once i got her up. She sailed like a Toad swimming in a bucket of  As she was being towed to port he took of the aluminium storm doors a former owner had installed on each Cabin and chucked them overboard. He replaced them with Wood doors then restored the rigging. Adventure sailed with Only 2.900 Square foot of sail when Sharp bought her. Today she proudly i ibs  Square feet and the largest Mainsail in the United states 3,150 Square Leet. In researching Hii Book Sharp looked up one of the earlier captains. Leo Hynes an b5-Yeor-cd newfound Lander who captained her for 19 years from 1934 to 1953. Hynes set Many fisheries records in bringing in huge hauls. He was forced to retire her when Stee wilted diesel data Gars took Over the Industry. Even the adventure spent her last few fishing years under engine Power but the engine has been removed and today she s pure sailing vessel. I be sailed some i 000 people on her in 20 years. That s a lot of lobsters to Burn but i be loved every  Sharp says. The 51-Vear-old Captain has never missed a Day working with broken Ankles and kidney stones in the Winter. In the Oil season Captain Jim is still at the love affairs a wit adventure Jamett w. Sharp Flynn t at the wheel of hit Tho on. Adventure off the coat of Maine. Wheel As a free Lance tug Boa operator. He also restores antique cars during the Winter. He s run aground twice in the Schooner which draws 14 feet. I know everybody says they hit an unmarked Rock but i really did. It s marked now but it was added to the charts after i hit it he says. The other time i was pinching along trying to get into Cradle Cove and went aground. It was very embarrassing. I asked the lord to give me an oesophagus Large enough to Swallow my  Sharp a Man with Bright Blue eyes and a pronounced Limp left Over from a childhood bout with polio says he s made Many friends Over the years As adventure s skipper. Many come Back year after year. In two decades he s Only had to put five people ashore people More interested in booze than sailing. When they got to be a liability aboard. I be had to put them off. You can drink in a bar. That s not what the adventure is Tot says Sharp. He s had Only one passenger he never wants to see again. She complained from the moment she boarded. The food was terrible the accommodations were terrible the weather was terrible everything was terrible recalls Sharp. He takes off each monday morning and returns the following saturday to the Home port of Camden. The next year she asked to come again. Sharp told her All 37 berths had been booked that week. She inquired about the next week and the week alter that. I just told her we were booked All summer. The next thing i knew she got her lawyer after us he laughs. I could t believe it. The woman who hated everything was willing to take Legal action so she could spend an entire week  the Captain of the sea remained firm. He kept her off. Sharp has performed 16 marriages aboard and has scattered ashes of the deceased from the decks of the adventure. The word retirement is not in his vocabulary especially retirement from the love of his life. I Don t think i could stand on the Dock and watch her go out with someone else at the wheel someone else who would be sailing her when she starts hopping along. There were Many boats i have known Over the years that i would like to hold hands with but there was Only one i loved and that was the  the stars and stripes Page 13