The only sounds are the swoosh of the sail as it catches the wind, and the ripple of the water when a whale breaks to the surface, its fin glistening in the sun.

It’s part of a three-hour journey off Eastport, and Capt. Butch Harris is betting an 84-foot wooden hull schooner named the Sylvina W. Beal will draw more tourists to the nation’s easternmost port – and anchor Down East more firmly in the whale-watching world.

At certain times of the year, passengers on the two-masted schooner can see baby porpoises swimming next to their mothers. There are always ospreys in the area, and occasionally parrot-like puffins with their sharp red bills are visible. Visitors can catch the broad wings of an American eagle.

Harris, 36, bought the 91-year-old Sylvina Beal last winter and this summer has been marketing it for windjammer cruises where the passengers themselves are asked to pitch in and help hoist the sails.

Such cruises are a mainstay in the midcoast, in southern Maine and across the border, on New Brunswick’s Grand Manan Island. But Harris hopes Eastport will be the next draw.

The ship began its career as a fishing schooner. The crew fished both herring and mackerel seines. “For 50 years she carried herring in this area,” Harris said. “She was owned by Seacoast and Peacock canning companies out of Eastport and Lubec.”

The boat also was used as a seafood cargo carrier until it was converted to a windjammer passenger schooner in 1981. A ladder leads to the galley and brass kerosene lanterns.

“We found them in storage and polished them up,” he said. It also has a cast-iron coal stove.

Harris began his whale-watching business 11 years ago, eventually building his own whale-watching boat.

The Sylvina Beal used to sail out of Boothbay Harbor and Harris knew its history. “So when I found out she was for sale, I figured it was a good chance to convert my whale watching over to the schooner and do schooner trips too and hopefully build up the Eastport area,” he said.