The Gannon and Benjamin boatyard on the Vineyard Haven harbor was the scene of a festive launch Monday for a new design created by the venerable wooden boat yard. The Sheldrake is a gaff sloop daysailer and Nat Benjamin’s 85th original design.

On the day after Thanksgiving Nat Benjamin and a four-man crew cast off the stern lines of the gaff-rigged schooner Charlotte and set sail for the Caribbean. But it will be more than a cruising adventure.

When Tim and Trisha Colon bought a sailboat in Duluth, Minn., bringing the 45-foot boat home became a family adventure. With their two children, the Colons sailed the boat through the Great Lakes, down the Hudson River and across Long Island Sound to Vineyard Haven harbor.

Every once in awhile when I was a child summering at East Chop, a four or five-masted schooner would come into sight, white sails filled with wind.

Though she hasn’t gotten the press the Charles W. Morgan has earned, the fishing vessel Roann can claim as deep a Vineyard pedigree. She was built in 1947 for Roy. M. Campbell of Vineyard Haven. Now she is escort to the Morgan.

Effective June 1, boaters in Vineyard Haven waterways will be restricted to three days on an anchor. The Tisbury selectmen unanimously voted to approve an amendment to the town anchoring regulations after a public hearing Tuesday.

The Quitsa Strider II, an iconic fishing dragger that has long been synonymous with the working waterfront in Menemsha, has been sold to a New Bedford dealer. Matthew Mayhew and his father, Jonathan Mayhew, made their final run on the 72-foot dragger to New Bedford last Friday.

There are many iconic skylines, but few as proud and cherished as the stabilizer arms that reach above the fish markets from Menemsha’s sister draggers, the Unicorn and the Quitsa Strider II.

In freezing temperatures a crew in Menemsha worked through the night to save the Unicorn from sinking.

Ten sailboats participated in last Saturday’s 25th annual Pat West Gaff Rig and Schooner Race. The race from the outer Vineyard Haven harbor to Tarpaulin Cove and back began at 11 a.m. in light and variable winds. Zoli Clarke and Ryan Payne of Vineyard Haven sailed the Gannon and Benjamin Hazel 18 to victory.

Of the 10 boats, six were schooners. The Soros/DiBiaso team won the schooner class in their 65-foot Gannon and Benjamin schooner Juno.