Schooner Skipper

Nautical educator Roger Taylor
Benjamin Brewster / Lake Champlain Maritime Museum

Multifaceted boating enthusiast Roger Taylor ’53 is now captain of the Lois McClure, a full-scale replica of an 1862-class sailing canal schooner. The vessel, created by a four-year collaboration among boat builders, nautical archaeologists, and volunteers, was sponsored by the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum (LCMM), built in Burlington, Vermont, and launched on July 3, 2004. During that year’s maiden voyage around Lake Champlain, Taylor and his crew gave tours of their “floating classroom” to more than 15,000 adults and children. He is back at the helm this summer on Lake Champlain, and the McClure will also make a “grand journey from the Green Mountains to Manhattan” (see the museum website, www.lcmm.org). Reporting on the vessel’s inaugural tour, Taylor wrote, “Perhaps the best single word to describe the Lois McClure under sail is: Majestic, a wonderful word to be able to apply to a utilitarian carrier of cargo. I feel fortunate beyond words to be able to gain experience sailing a canal schooner.”

You might also like

The Roman Empire’s Cosmopolitan Frontier

Genetic analysis reveals a culture enriched from both sides of the Danube.

Tobacco Smoke and Tuberculosis

Harvard researchers illuminate a longstanding epidemiological connection. 

Discourse and Discipline

Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences broaches two tough topics.

Most popular

Small-Town Roots

Professors’ humble beginnings, concentration choices, and a mini history of Harvard and Radcliffe presidents

Vita: Fanny Bullock Workman

Brief life of a feisty mountaineer: 1859-1925

Being Black at Work

Realizing the full potential of black employees

More to explore

Illustration of a box containing a laid-off fossil fuel worker's office belongings

Preparing for the Energy Transition

Expect massive job losses in industries associated with fossil fuels. The time to get ready is now.

Apollonia Poilâne standing in front of rows of fresh-baked loaves at her family's flagship bakery

Her Bread and Butter

A third-generation French baker on legacy loaves and the "magic" of baking

Illustration that plays on the grade A+ and the term Ai

AI in the Academy

Generative AI can enhance teaching and learning but augurs a shift to oral forms of student assessment.