35' Burnham Gloucester Schooner (2006) - ISABELLA

ISABELLA was commissioned in 2005 by Bill Green. He asked for was a boat he could take his 13 grandchildren sailing in. By the time we finished her in 2006, grandchild number 14 was on his way. In 2021, Bill turned 89 with more than 20 grandchildren. Time was catching up to him and he found that he was no longer able to care for or sail Isabella as he once had. Desiring to pass her on to a good home, he decided to give her back to us.

I based Isabella’s design on schooners I saw in Fitz Henry Lane’s paintings (though she is clearly a scaled down version.) Gloucester Historian, Justin Demetri, thinks she looks like a halibut schooner and it is likely that the boats I based her design on were used for halibut fishing.

Whatever the case, while she clearly has Cape Ann origins in her both her design and traditional Essex construction, she is also built for comfort. She has a couch that comfortably seats 6 against her transom, a commodious cabin with full galley, hot and cold running water, and a head with a shower.

It turns out that all of the accommodations we built into Isabella for Bill’s grandchildren, also accommodate the type of small group charters our customers have been enjoying these past few years. She is safe, comfortable, beautiful, and surprisingly fast under the right conditions.

Isabella’s Metrics
Maximum Number of Passengers – 12
Length of Rail – 39’
Beam – 12’6”
Displacement – 22 tons
Gross Tonnage – 16
Working Sail Area – 799 Ft
Horspower – 50