Ambergris Voyages
Acadia Sailing Tours
Welcome aboard the Ambergris! We invite you to embark on an authentic Maine sailing experience aboard a traditional schooner on the “Quite Side” of Acadia National Park. Away from the hustle and bustle of Bar Harbor, we offer small group sailing experiences sailing from our home port of Southwest Harbor.
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An afternoon sail
The afternoon is usually the windiest part of the day, making for a brisk sail as the land heating up draws in a sea breeze.
Departing from Southwest Harbor we’ll sail through the majestic Acadia National Park and the surrounding islands.
Feel the refreshing sea breeze and keep an eye out for wildlife like seabirds, seals, and maybe even a whale. Whether celebrating a special event or just wanting to enjoy nature, an afternoon sail aboard Ambergris is a unique way to experience Acadia.
Join us to see why Mount Desert Island is a gem on the Maine coast!
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The sunset cruise
Enjoy the beauty of Acadia National Park on the traditional schooner Ambergris with our sunset sail. Our small group size offers a cozy setting, letting you fully appreciate the peaceful landscape.
Join us for a memorable experience—perfect for a romantic night, a relaxing family outing, or quiet reflection.
Watching the sun set over the mountains as we make our way back into the harbor is a perfect way to end a day in Acadia.
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Island Exploration
On an Island Exploration trip, we’ll have the opportunity to sail further afield and explore the outer islands of Maine.
We can anchor the Ambergris securely and venture out to a serene, remote beach for a lobster bake or we may visit the charming small island community on the Cranberry Islands, where we can also have a delightful meal at the popular Islesford Dock Restaurant.
Alternatively, we could sail out the Western Way towards Bass Harbor and the islands found in that area.
Island Exploration trips are offered as a full day private charter. The Ambergris is yours for the day so give us a call to plan your adventure!
The Ambergris
The Ambergris’ design is based on a Pinky Schooner, a New England boat that was used in the 1800s for fishing and hauling cargo. She’s 59 feet on deck and 80 feet overall.
Safety First! We are fully licensed and in addition to the safety gear required by the Coast Guard, the Ambergris is equipped for offshore sailing, which she does regularly. We have a maximum of 6 six passengers, so there’s plenty of room on Ambergris’ wide decks for everyone to enjoy the sail.
Pinky MAINE anchored on the fishing grounds, with the crew hand-lining over the port rail. Drawing by John F. Leavitt
Ambergris
OUR SAILING TOURS
Our sailing tours are offered as private or shared charters. On a shared charter you’ll be sailing with a small group of folks looking for a similar experience. With a private charter we can customize your sailing trip to suit your needs and interests. For instance, we could do some sailing lessons or grill some food on the ship’s BBQ.
We sail for about 3 hours except for an Island Exploration trip, which is a full day. Each sail is different according to the weather and wind direction. We may sail along the south coast of Acadia past the summer estates of Northeast Harbor, Bear Island Lighthouse, and out to East Bunker ledge where a colony of seals can often be seen sunning themselves on the rocks. We may sail up Somes Sound into the heart of Acadia National Park or out to the Cranberry Islands. There is always a good chance of seeing some wildlife such as seals, bald eagles, porpoises and even the occasional minke whale.
On an Island Exploration trip we’ll have the time to sail further afield and explore Maine’s outer islands. We can anchor the Ambergris and explore a remote beach, visit the small island community on the Cranberry Islands and have a meal at the Islesford Dock Restaurant, or sail out the Western Way towards Bass Harbor and the islands there.
Ambergris’ Story
Grace
While Captain Patrick Reilly isn’t a Maine native (He moved to Maine when he was 3 years old!) he grew up on Mount Desert Island and has been sailing since he was a kid. His summers were spent working on local schooners and by the time he was 18 years old he had earned his U.S. Coast Guard captain’s license. After graduating MDI high school he went to sea, sailing thousands of ocean miles working as a yacht captain and delivering yachts around the world. In between yachting gigs he had many adventures aboard a series of his own boats. In his 20’s he bought a 23 foot engine-less gaff rigged cutter named Grace which he single handed from Maine to the Caribbean and then across the Atlantic to Ireland and on to Iceland and Norway.
His next boat was a 54 foot steel cutter which he did charters between Maine, Central America and the Caribbean. After a while Patrick started thinking about what his ideal boat would be and finally decided to build it himself. He went looking for a bare hull which he could fit out to suit his needs. That’s when he found the Ambergris in 2016.
She was in Florida where she had been lying for the past 10 years as an an unfinished project. Her steel construction was sound and with a lot of work Patrick saw that she would be a fine sea boat.
Patrick and his partner Erin (who owns and operates Acadia Speech Therapy) motored the Ambergris over to the Bahamas for the rest of the winter where they scraped off the barnacles from her bottom and built a jury rig to sail her back to Maine. Patrick went back to work as a private yacht captain while they spent the next 6 years building the Ambergris. After much hard work the Ambergris started doing sailing charters in the summer of 2021.
After finishing our summer season in Maine the Ambergris sails to the Caribbean for the winter, where we do our annual yard period to keep the Ambergris shipshape. We’re also building the cabins, and once we finish we’ll start doing longer charters in the tropics.
We’ve designed the Ambergris’ interior to double as a cargo hold. On our last trip to the Caribbean we hauled a load of green coffee beans from the Dominican Republic. Cargo under sail is a long held dream of ours, and we believe in shipping ethically sourced goods in an environmentally sustainable way.
