BROWNSVILLE — Late June 13, the schooner Mycia dropped hook at the Port of Brownsville.

A handmade, wooden, two-masted, gaff-rigged fishing schooner homeported in Sitka, Alaska, the Mycia was en route to the 2017 Festival of Sail on June 15-18 in Tacoma.

The owner, Capt. John Maher, a retired Alaskan fisherman, said the Mycia was assembled in his backyard in Port Townsend, where he was living at the time. Construction began in 1992 and he finished the boat in 1997. It made its first trip to Sitka the following year, where Maher used it for pleasure and as a working cod-fishing boat. He and his family have a license for 1 percent of the black cod quota in southeast Alaska. His daughter, Capt. Darcy Anne Maher, is the skipper now.

In addition to fishing, according to SailMycia.com, the Mycia is also available for “sailing adventures, custom cruises, and excursions in the Pacific Northwest (Washington state and British Columbia) and Alaska.”

The Port of Kingston reported that at least one tall ship, the schooner Suva, anchored there on June 13 as well. The ship was built in 1925 for a Coupeville attorney and built in Hong Kong. She is the flagship of the Coupeville Maritime Heritage Foundation and is open to the public for tours and sailing excursions.

— Terryl Asla is a reporter for the Kitsap News Group. He can be reached at tasla@soundpublishing.com.

The name “Mycia” was inspired by his love of mushrooms, Capt. Maher said. He said he liked the name so much that when his first daughter was born, he used “Mycia” for her middle name. Terryl Asla|Kitsap News Group