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June 1, 2000 Issue
June 15, 2000 Issue
June 1, 2000
Amistad Launched at Mystic Seaport
By Eric RussellThey did it. The Amistad recreation was launched without a hitch on March 25, 2000. She had been rolled out of her construction shed in the duPont shipbuilding area a few days earlier. When we got there, she was sitting in the lift dock on her trailer. A little after 12:30pm, the symbolic chains holding her to the land were cut, her bell was tolled 53 times to honor the 53 who fought against being en-slaved and she was slowly lowered into the Mystic River before 10,000 attendees. I must admit that I was somewhat disappointed that the launching was not down ways, ending in a splash. Even so the lowering was impressive and stately.
It was reported that, due to her pre-launch moistening, she made only a couple of cupsful of water. The lower masts were out in the spar shed, ready to be dropped into place. When my kid went over to inspect them, it was clear that their diameter was almost as great as his height. He was awed. The booms, gaffs, topmasts and yards were lying in the building shed waiting to be shaped on the spar lathe. This part of the exhibit was almost as impressive to anyone who knows boatbuilding as her backbone had been when the keel and first three frames were set up.
As with many current vessels, such as Clearwater, Amistad is not a replica of the original. As she is to be certified to carry 49 passengers as well as 12 crew, she has to meet Coast Guard standards of design and construction. Although the Coast Guard was cooperative in her progress, she was frequently inspected as she went together. Once she is completed, there should be little trouble with the certification.
The attendees were almost as interesting as the Seaport. In the 40 plus years I have been coming here, I have never seen so many people. About half the crowd was non-white, church groups and others chartered buses. Pete Seeger and the Beacon United Church of Christ reached out to several of the local communities. They had to turn people away as their charter was oversubscribed. The United Church of Christ was one of the major spon-sors of the vessel and was also a major supporter of the legal effort which gained acquittal for the 53 involuntary passengers. Other attendees included Fung Lim, who is building the new yawlboat for Clearwater in Queens. His site will soon become the East River ApprenticeShop. Four Rockport ApprenticeShop grads who had worked on Amistad's construction greeted Lance Lee.
In addition to the vessels belonging to Mystic Seaport, Mystic Whaler, Argia and the frigate Rose were in attendance. When the launch was complete, Rose fired a salute, followed by guns from Mystic Whaler. When the event was completed, the vessels dispersed, with Rose tying up at the Chubb pier, near the Morgan. As anyone who has visited Mystic knows, there is a sharp turn in the channel of the Mystic River at Lighthouse Point. Rather than chance running aground, Rose came to a stop opposite the Brilliant landing and allowed push boats to position her for the final leg to the pierhead.
My 8-1/2 year old son did not want to come to the launch. Once he got there, Mystic Seaport and the event it-self grabbed him. In addition to the exhibits related to Amistad and its history the regular displays and demonstrations really got his attention. Watching him climbing through the Charles W Morgan brought back memories of my first visit to the Seaport when I was about his age. When we left, he said he wanted to come back as soon as he could.
He especially enjoyed the blacksmithing shop and was thrilled that Rick Spencer, the woodcarver, taught him to carve a feather. At the small boat livery, he was able to relate the maintenance he saw to what we do on our boats at Floating the Apple. Static exhibits held as much of his attention as the demonstrations. One of the issues Amistad raises is that there were very few African-American shipwrights around to work on the project. One of them, Wayne Bartow, came up to Mystic from Beacon, New York every weekend to help. There is the very real problem that, initially, there may not be enough minority people willing to get involved in the project when Amistad moves to her home port of New Haven.
At least in the northeast, non-whites are severely under-represented in American boating. In New York City, efforts are being made to reach out through schools and community organizations. The expectation for all kids should be that access to the water is for all of us, not just a privileged few.
In Operation Sail, '76, the schooner West-ern Union was chartered and temporarily renamed Amistad. This time in her own right, Amistad is expected to participate in OPSAIL 2000 from July 3-9 in New York and from July 11-14 in New London. If you can make it to New Haven between July 15 and 24, she is expected to arrive in her home port for the first time. A large celebration is anticipated.
Next time a vessel is launched and you hear about it, be there. It is a genuinely communal activity and relatively rare.
June 15, 2000
Third Annual Festival Oar, Paddle & Sail
The Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, NY, host of the most successful Antique Boat Shows and Race Boat Regattas in the nation, is proud to announce its 3rd Annual Festival of Oar, Paddle and Sail, Saturday, July 15. "We attract participants," the Museum's Events Coordinator, Charlotte Yehle said, "because of our spectacular setting in the Thousand Islands." The Museum's protected and picturesque harbor, with breakwater, lighthouse, floating docks and skiff slide make an ideal setting for this type of festival. In addition, we have just renovated two small craft buildings and constructed a spectacular skiff livery.
The Fred Thomas Skiff Livery was completed in June, 1999. This space creates a living exhibit where Museum students and visitors not only can touch skiffs, but also can actually put them in the water and row them.
From the water, the structure has the beautiful look of a turn of the century St.Lawrence Skiff House. The architectural details; hand made wooden doors, dormers, posts and beams, varnished beaded board walls, cedar shingles and the beautiful standing seam, steel roof, and hydraulic skiff slide, make a spectacular exhibit and launching area for the Small Craft Festival.
The Festival of Oar, Paddle & Sail will feature a variety of events from boat building and paddle making workshops to rowing, pad-dling and sailing. Kids will be able to build their own boats out of cardboard kits, designed by our instructors. Participants are then en-couraged to water test their boats against the competition. For the younger mates, model boat kits will be available to assemble and test.
Admission to the festival provides access to the Antique Boat Museum and the largest freshwater collection of antique and classic boats in the world. So mark your calendars: Third Annual Festival of Oar, Paddle and Sail on Saturday, July 15, 2000, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm, Clayton, NY. For more information, call the Museum at 315-686-4104 or visit its website at http://www.abm.org/
Other 2000 specail events at the Antique Boat Museum are: August 4-6 - 36th Annual Antique Boat Show & Auction; August 18-20 - Antique Raceboat Regatta 2000.
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