News Photo by Jordan Spence Capt. Jesse Doucette stands on the tall ship Appledore. The ship is owned by BaySail and operates out of Bay City. It stopped in Alpena for a couple of days while traveling on its way to Detroit.

ALPENA — Capt. Jesse Doucette said he hopes the tall ship Appledore makes other stops in Alpena in the future. The ship was in Alpena for a couple days while it traveled to Detroit.

“This is our first voyage to Alpena. It was suggested by a crew member who is from the area. She did some volunteer work and said it would be a good stop over and it is,” he said. “The trip is a good little clip, a good stop-over before getting back on the main journey.”

Doucette has been the captain of the Appledore for 3.5 months. He has worked on ships for 10 years. He has a crew of six along with four Navy Sea Cadets for a total of 11 people on board.

The ship was built in 1989 and is 85 feet in length, weighs 48 gross tons, has a 76 schooner height and is owned and operated by BaySail.

Doucette said the ship originallywas built by a wealthy family who intended to sail it around the world. The family made it halfway before they had to turn around because someone on board was sick. First the ship operated out of Traverse City, then Bay City.

Doucette said because everything on the ship needs to be done by hand it is a platform for people to learn true seamanship. There’s nothing better than a tall ship to teach the crew, he said.

“Particularly with young people. It gets them out of their comfort zone. They don’t know each other too well and they work close together,” he said. “They aren’t able to use their phones so they have to talk and interact. It’s a bit of a transformative experience and its pushes them to do something difficult. Nothing is automated they have to do things like raise the sails up as a team.”

David Sozanski, 17, of Bolton, Mass., is the newest crew member on board.

“I really enjoy the Appledore. I was originally a volunteer and I was on it for a few weeks and a vacancy opened it so it took it. I enjoy sailing and living on the boat and seeing different ports,” Sozanski said.

He said it takes an adjustment to live on board for a long period of time, cooking for a large group of people and keeping watch.

“As far as the ship goes it’s pretty nice,” he said.

Sozanski leans toward a profession on the water, but hasn’t made any definitive decisions yet.

Doucette said he hopes crew members use the training experience on board to apply to later jobs in life.

“They’re all very dedicated and it’s an adjustment because it can be hard. It attracts a certain type of person that wants that challenge,” Doucette said.

Jordan Spence can be reached via email at jspence@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5687.