For Immediate Release

The pristine waters of Penobscot Bay, Maine, are the cruising grounds of the last large American sailing fleet comprised of historical American built and United States Coast Guard Certified vessels. The Coast Guard Certificate of Inspection is required on all large passenger carrying American flagged vessels. This certificate assures you that these vessels have passed an extensive yearly inspection by the USCG and each vessel is in compliance with all the rules and regulations which allows them to carry passengers. The vessels in our fleet all provide sail training programs, but we differ from vessels strictly termed "Sail Training Vessel's". Our inspected vessels possess a certificate to carry "paying passengers" as well as trainees. Pure "Sail Training Vessels" can only carry sail trainees even though those trainees may be paying for that service. The Certificate of Inspection is a United States Coast Guard regulation issue that may seem insignificant to those outside of the industry. But it is a very important document which relates directly to your safety and peace of mind. The observant consumer may notice that a vast majority of the major Cruise lines operating in American ports do so under Foreign flagged vessels. Hailing from a foreign country, those vessels do not fall under the same strict compliance regulations that American flagged USCG inspected vessels do. Many are foreign flagged because, quite frankly other countries do not posses as strict and comprehensive regulations as those laid down by the United States Coast Guard to protect passengers. "Buying American" in this industry on an Inspected vessel assures you that the vessel you are on has a qualified USCG Licensed Captain, a competent crew who is randomly drug tested and a vessel that is in compliance with very detailed and specific regulations designed for one thing: your safety.