Key West Ship Tours   Schooner Wolf at Sunset   Sailing Trip in Key West


Schooner Wolf

Flagship of the Conch Republic Pirates in Paradise Sails

A classic 74’ topsail schooner, the WOLF was built in 1983 in Panama City, Florida by Master Builder Willis Rayand Capt. Finbar. Designed by Merit Walter, the WOLF is a classic steel hull schooner. U.S.C.G. certified for 44 passengers for day sails, 20 passengers coast-wise and six passengers for international voyages, the WOLF has a cargo capacity of 20 tons.

Schooner WolfThe Topsail Schooner WOLF plays center stage for this colorful, swashbuckling festival, featuring Adventures on the High Seas. Awash with Historic Re-Enactors bedecked in colorful Pirate garb hanging from the yardarms, the WOLF will attack unsuspecting vessels in Key West Harbor.

The WOLF is always available for private charters, nautical excursions and extended voyages. During Pirates in Paradise Festival, the WOLF will be offering daily passenger sails. Thanksgiving weekend (November 27-29) the WOLF will be offering a Pirate Sunset Sail departing from her homeport at Safe Harbour Marina in downtown Stock Island at 4pm. Wednesday, December 2 through Sunday, December 6, the WOLF will be offering daily afternoon (1-3pm) and sunset (4-6pm) Pirate Sails and Attacks on Fort Taylor departing from Schooner Wharft at Key West's Historic Seaport.

The Schooner Wolf is patterned after the blockade runners that plied the waters of the Florida Straits in the 1800’s. Showcased in many films and documentaries, the WOLF, with Capt. Finbar at the helm, has sailed extensively the waters of the Caribbean, Bahamas & Gulf of Mexico. The WOLF has come to symbolize the essence of the “island spirit” that is Key West and often serves as lead vessel in local harbor parades and traditional events, including the annual Conch Republic Days Celebration & Key West’s Pirates in Paradise Festival.

Over the years, the WOLF has traveled to many seaport festivals and tall ship regattas, including Miami’s OpSail 2000, the Cayman Island’s Pirates Week Festival 2000, Tampa’s 2001 Gasparilla Festival, Americas’ Sail 2002 in Jamaica and St. Petersburg, Florida, Mobile Alabama’s 2002 4th of July Parade Sail & Tricentennial Celebration, the Cayman Islands’ Quincententennial Seafaring Festival (2003); Green Turtle Cay's 2006 Island Roots Festival, and Pepsi's Americas Sail 2006 in Beaufort, North Carolina. Each year, the WOLF also plays center stage for the Conch Republic Independence Celebration's annual Great Sea Battle in April.

The Wolf is known for her humanitarian Missions of Mercy, which include taking members of the 1998 Interfaith Pilgrimage of the Middle Passage to Cuba. The WOLF has also taken cargoes of relief supplies to Port Antonio, Jamaica after Hurricane Gilbert; to Guanaja, Honduras after Hurricane Mitch; Hopetown, Abaco (Bahamas) after Hurricane Floyd and West End, Grand Bahama after Hurricane Ivan.


 

    *photos by Poppa Tony Callahan, Callahan Digital Art, Barbara Trushaw, Christine Lampe, Francis Hui, Rob O'Neal, Carol Foldvary Anderson, Michelle Murillo, Kat Epple, & Myron Rosenberg