Peer inside 100-foot fishing boats, sample seafood and listen to maritime music at this weekend’s 2008 Working Waterfront Festival in New Bedford, America’s largest commercial fishing port. The festival takes place Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 27 and 28.

This free, family-friendly event opens the waterfront to the public with a rare look into commercial fishing, America’s oldest industry.

The 2008 lineup includes over 100 performers from as far away as Alaska and Norway including a special visit from the Northern Neck Chantey Singers, a group of retired menhaden fishermen who keep their tradition of African-American work songs alive. Also in the lineup are Norwegian folk dancers and musicians, folk singers and much more maritime music.

There will be fishermen’s contests, fresh seafood, vessel tours, author readings, cooking demonstrations, children’s activities and more.

For schedules, lineups, map and the rest, visit www.workingwaterfrontfestival.org.

RWU sailors ranked second

Roger Williams University continues its climb into the ranks of college sailing’s elite schools.

Sailing World magazine puts RWU second in its national pre-season co-ed collegiate listing of top colleges. That’s an improvement from the school’s previous ranking of seventh.

Boston College goes into the year ranked first, while Brown is seventh.

In the women’s racing category, Brown is ranked fourth and URI is 15th.

Alabama sails in

The Black Dog Tall Ship Alabama will visit Bannister’s Wharf for a two-day event celebrating the four-year anniversary of the Black Dog’s Newport location this Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 27-28. While here, the 90-foot gaff rigged fore and aft schooner will offer free dockside tours, story-telling, book signings and more.

Alabama was launched in 1926 and served as the pilot boat for Mobile, Ala., for 40 years. Purchased in 1966 by Robert Douglas, master of the square-topsail schooner Shenandoah, the vessel’s new homeport became Vineyard Haven on Martha’s Vineyard where Mr. Douglas would open the famous Black Dog Tavern in 1971. Years later, as a result of the popularity of the “Kids Cruise” program offered on Shenandoah, it was decided to return Alabama to service.
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Peter Bailey

Since 1998, following a three-year rebuild, Alabama has sailed New England waters and furthered the goal of the Black Dog Tall Ships Company to carry on the traditions of America’s maritime past.

Alabama will return to Bannister’s Wharf on Saturday, Oct. 18 during the Chowder Festival for another free dockside event.

Pint-sized voyager

A British sailor intends to cross the Atlantic in a boat that makes a Sunfish look like a superyacht.

Tom McNally plans to smash the record for smallest boat in a transatlantic crossing when he sets out from Cadiz, Spain in the 3-foot-10-inch sailboat Big C. And when he gets to this continent he means to turn around and head right back to Europe.

He’s sailed the Atlantic before but in something much bigger. He set a previous record for smallest boat — that one was 5- feet-4-and-a-half inches. He lost the title when a challenger crossed in a boat that was a half inch shorter.

Mr. McNally’s route will take him west to Central America, Texas, Newfoundland and then back to Liverpool, England, his home port. Along the way he is raising pledge money for Sail 4 Cancer.

To see a picture of his boat and learn more, visit www.sail4cancer.org

Take part in a trawl

Most of the fish landed in Rhode Island are caught by commercial trawlers, and if you’d like to see for yourself how it’s done, join R.I. Sea Grant on Thursday or Friday, Sept. 25 or 27, for a trawling trip aboard the URI Fisheries vessel Cap’n Bert and bring home a fish for supper.

David Beutel, R.I. Sea Grant Sustainable Fisheries Extension specialist and former commercial fisherman, is leading the two trips, each of which will start at 8:30 a.m. and end at around noon.

“Rhode Island’s commercial fishermen trawl from the edges of the continental shelf all the way up into Narragansett Bay, catching flounder, black sea bass, scup, and squid,” Capt. Beutel says. Participants aboard the Cap’n Bert, which has a commercial-sized net, can expect to see those species as well as the more unusual sea robins, sponges, and small sharks. Passengers will help sort the catch, and surplus fish are donated to the North Kingstown Food Pantry.

The trips, at $30 per person, are moderately strenuous, so are recommended for adults and children 12 and over. Boots or sneakers are recommended (no sandals). The trips leave from Wickford Shipyard, 125 Steamboat Ave., Wickford. Advance reservations are required by calling Jean Gallo at 874-6842.
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