Maine Pinky (Generic)

Type

Schooner

Period

19th Century

Nation

United States

Overview: The pinky (or "pink") schooner was a small, double-ended New England fishing vessel named for its narrow, upswept "pinked" stern. It descended from the earlier Chebacco boat and became one of the characteristic small fishing craft of the Maine and Massachusetts coast in the 19th century. Specifications: Pinkies were typically modest in size — most fully developed examples ran roughly 50 to 60 feet on deck, carried a schooner rig of two masts (foresail, mainsail, jib, and often a main topmast staysail), and had a distinctive high, narrow, upswept stern that protected the outboard-hung rudder and sheltered the helmsman. A representative example, the replica pinky Maine built by Maine Maritime Museum, was based on 1832 lines from a half-model attributed to a vessel built by Capt. Levi Reed of East Boothbay. Service History: Pinkies were widely used for inshore and offshore cod and mackerel fishing out of Cape Ann, Essex, and other New England ports, with fishermen working over the rail with jigs, hand lines, or nets. Records show 64 registered pinky schooners operating out of the Cape Ann district alone in 1839, and the type remained in commercial use into the early 20th century before being displaced by larger, faster Gloucester-style fishing schooners. Notable Facts: Pinkies appear frequently in the marine paintings of Fitz Henry Lane, whose works such as "Becalmed off Halfway Rock" are considered important visual records of the type's hull form and rig. Because of their seaworthiness, stability, and graceful lines, several pinky-hulled vessels have been built or restored as pleasure and excursion craft in the 20th and 21st centuries, including the Maine Maritime Museum's replica Maine (1986) and the schooner Ardelle, a "clipper pinky" built in Essex in 2010–2011.