Captain Douglas started the Black Dog Tallships offering sailing trips and charters on the Shenandoah. He built the offices and the Black Dog Wharf to support his seagoing ventures, as well as to welcome watercraft visitors on extended stay to the Vineyard, or to grab a famously delicious meal at the adjacent Black Dog Tavern. The The Black Dog Tallships offices are an amazing collection of boats, models, maritime artifacts, and art gathered by Captain Douglas.
Robert S. Douglas Builds a Boat
Captain Robert S. Douglas was a jet fighter pilot for the Air Force from 1956 to 1958, retiring with the rank of Captain. He first became involved with boats summering and sailing on Martha’s Vineyard as a youth. In the early 1960s, he found himself working on the 83′ Harvey Gamage Shipyard-built windjammer Mary Day, and there hatched a plan to move to the Vineyard, build windjammer, and take passengers back to the days of tall ships and the life of sailing them.
The Black Dog Tavern
One desperately cold day in 1969, over a bitter cup of coffee and a dry packaged, store bought donut, the Captain had finally had enough. He started sketching on a paper napkin. A small gambrel roofed building started to take shape. Excited townsfolk helped build and shingle the establishment, and were eager to share their recipes for pies, chowders, and soups. On January first, 1971, when the doors finally opened, there wasn’t an empty seat in the house, and The Black Dog Tavern was born. The distinctive graphic element of the tavern’s ‘Black Dog’ also caught attention and became as popular as the menu, and is now seen worldwide on T-shirts, apparel, and many other useful items. Visit The Black Dog web site for a look.