The Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club hosted a presentation and question and answer session June 29 with Captain Willy Leathers of the legendary dory fishing trawler Adventure.

Nancy Prisk of Land for Southport’s Future introduced Leathers to the room full of sailors and windjammer enthusiasts. After chronicling Leathers’ journey from Maine Maritime Academy to his current position as captain of the historic vessel, she asked, “Have I given it away, yet, that Willy is my son?”

Leathers, 29, took the floor and his passion for the Adventure was evident from the get-go as he launched into a full history of the ship.

Built in 1926 in Essex, Massachusetts, Adventure was a one-of-a-kind dory fishing trawler, being one of the first knockabout designs. She fished cod, halibut and haddock up the coast from Gloucester, Massachusetts to Nova Scotia porting off and on in Maine to offload catches.

When retired in 1953, Adventure was the last of the dory fishing trawlers in the Atlantic Ocean. The next year, the schooner became a windjammer — based out of Boothbay Harbor — carrying passengers for pleasure and leisure, but in 1987, Adventure lost her United States Coast Guard certification to carry passengers.

In 1988, then-owner Captain Jim Sharp donated Adventure to the people of Gloucester, Massachusetts, creating the nonprofit organization, The Gloucester Adventure Incorporated. Ever since, the main goal for the ship has been to restore her to her former glory as a windjammer. In 2015, the ship regained certification to carry passengers.

“Adventure is one of seven remaining ships that were built in Essex,” said Leathers. “This year marks the first time in 29 years that the ship has carried a Maine passenger.”