Wandering Aengus, originally Ensis, was Cape Cod Shipbuilding's first Mercer. She was actually the 2nd one to be sold however which has caused some confusion with Orpheus who was sold first but is in fact the hull #2. She was sold in early 2005 to Kris Hager who transported her from Hall Quarry in Maine to Sarasota Florida. At this time we aren't sure if there is going to be a name change.
The boat was built for John H. Hughes, a professor from Tabor Academy, who requested some special modifications. She was named Ensis and was sailed across the Atlantic and toured Europe from 1966 to 1968. According to son John F. Hughes they sailed (among other places) around the Ijsel Meer in the Netherlands, then dropped the stick and motored through the canals down to Paris. When not in Europe, she was moored in Hadley's Harbor, Elizabeth Islands.
Chris Crowley and Hilary Cooper bought the bought from Shirley Hughes, John's wife in 1986. She summered up in Southwest Harbor, Maine in the Hinkley yacht basin. Hilary Cooper, when only a little girl of 8-10 years, was in England and went aboard her with her father. Her father was so impressed with the boat that he told her that when she grew up she should marry someone with a Mercer 44. Well, she met Chris and did just that and his Mercer is the very same one she and her father were on years ago. Well done!
Chris loved his autopilot which he added a couple of years ago. In 2002 he added a main travelor on top of the doghouse and roller furling main in the boom. Chris sails her alone a lot and needed to be able to reef from the cockpit. We stumbled on her by surprise at Barden's Boatyard. This meant that for a while 3 Mercers were within a 1/4 mile of each other in Marion Harbor.
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