Gamming in Maine on board Lewis R French

Frances and Michael Howorth set sail on board a schooner launched in 1871

- FRANCES & MICHAEL HOWORTH

There's no one, it seems, who truly knows the derivation of the nautical term 'gam'. Yet everyone on the waterfront in New England on the Atlantic coast of America knows it means a gathering of sailing ships. Some suggest it is a whaling term dating back to the 1750s when hunting sperm whales for oil was big business. Back then, whaling boats would gam - rafting together to swap stories, mail and supplies with each other.

Indeed, whaling museums up and down this coast exhibit examples of gam chairs used to swing the wives of captains across the bulwarks of ships onto the decks of others so that the ladies could converse and swap gossip. As a term, gam is still used by the fleet of schooners that sail out of ports on the east coast of Maine. These old ships no longer haul cargo but instead, continue trading carrying guests. Once a year the fleet selects a discreet anchorage and gams together for an evening of food, music and companionship. And every year the schooners are full to the brim with passengers eager to take part in the gam.

We journeyed across the Atlantic to join the 150-year-old schooner Lewis R French as she set sail for the gam. We boarded in early June at Camden, one of the prettiest harbours on the coast of Maine.