Eight Bells: Robert Douglas

Robert S. Douglas, renowned designer and captain of the topsail schooner Shenandoah — as well as a teacher and mentor and businessman who founded the Black Dog apparel company — died April 23, 2025 at the family’s home at Arrowhead Farm in West Tisbury on Martha’s Vineyard. He turned 93 on March 18.

In the 56 years between the launch of Shenandoah in 1964 and her donation to an Island educational nonprofit in 2020, perhaps no other person in the United States owned and commanded a passenger-carrying sailing ship longer than Mr. Douglas. Certainly, no one parlayed the business of sailing into a trademark as widely recognized around the world as the Black Dog Tall Ships brand. – Full report