NEW HAVEN, Conn. - A cruise company in Bar Harbor, Maine, is purchasing a schooner that has been used as an educational vessel in New Haven, Connecticut.
The Quinnipiack is being sold to Downeast Windjammer Cruises, which plans to bring the schooner to Maine this spring.
The New Haven Registerreports the sale follows financial struggles for the nonprofit Schooner Inc. organization, including the termination in September of a classroom lease with the local school district.
The 91-foot Quinnipiack was built in Maine in 1984. It originally belonged to Steve Pagels, the owner of Downeast Windjammer Cruises, before it was sold to the Connecticut nonprofit in 1990.
New Haven Mayor Toni Harp said the schooner has been a fixture on the harbor and its departure will be a loss for the city's heritage.