Spreading her wings on a halcyon sea, the Young America is caught in flight by the young artist Chris Blossom. A member of the American Society of Marine Artists, he helped sail the vessel south last fall, and will be al sea in her as this issue appears, sailing Key West-Norfolk 10 join the Tall Ships Race to Boston. Fine prints of this painting are available upon inquiry to NMHS.
From the decks of a working square rigger
The Young America Sails! From a distance she was a sight to stir the heart. Lofty masts with yards crossed against the sky, a clipper bow and a thrusting jibboom combined to excite the imagination. Up close it was a vastly different story. A dead ship is a sorry sight under the best of circumstances and these were not the best of circumstances for the brigantine Enchantress. She had been tied to that dock all winter. No one had thought to send down her sails and they showed the ravages of a Long Island winter. Her running rigging and ratlines were manila and thoroughly rotten . Peeling paint was abundant. Her hull was foul. Below decks she was grim. Pipes had frozen and burst in almost every compartment. There was ample evidence of deck leaks. In the engine room none of the machinery was working and there was a water mark on the bulkhead sufficiently high to stop one cold. It was hard to believe that she was only three years old. She was designed by Charles Wittholz to meet U.S. Coast Guard requirements for passenger vessels and built by her original owners, the Port Jefferson Packet Company, for the cruise trade. Launched in I 975 at Port Jefferson, NY, she had taken part in Operation Sail '76. That was the high point of her career. She was never a success in the cruise trade and by the fall of 1977 the U.S. Marshal 14
By Capt. Peter Vanadia was tacking the notice of seizure to her mast. At the subsequent auction she was knocked down to Chemical Bank, who held her mortgage. Months later she was still awaiting a buyer to bring her back to life. At that point, in the spring of 1978, the Young America Marine Education Society was formed by Historic Gardner's Basin (the Atlantic City maritime museum) and The Oceanic Society, MidAtlantic Region . Both parents are grassroots organizations without endowments. There was some feeling that taking on a project of this magnitude was insane. There was a stronger feeling that the taking of carefully calculated risk was in the finest seafaring tradition. Enchantress was bought and renamed Young America. The name symbolizes both a commitment to youth and a hope that her career will be as long and as successful as that of the original Young America, William Webb's famous clipper of I853 . The Work Begins We became the owners of Young America at the end of May I 978. The first task was to move her to Historic Gardner's Basin where most of the refitting would be done. Weeks of work would be required before she could sail, so we had to move her under power. Steve Clarke and his crew at Greenport Yacht & Shipbuilding Company hauled
her the first week in June. While she was on the railway we cleaned and painted the bottom and also underwent Coast Guard drydock inspection. The Greenport crew performed some minor miracles and she passed inspection and was back in the water in a few days. With a hastily recruited crew we got underway for Atlantic City. Once secured alongside at Historic Gardner's Basin the work began in earnest. Although it would be weeks (some said months) before she would be ready for inspection, Coast Guard inspectors from Philadelphia went through her from stem to stern, helping us identify everything that needed to be done. The list was aweso me. Working eighteen hours a day, seven days a week, the crew and some enthusiastic volunteers got everything done in seven weeks. Some last-minute work was just finished as the inspector walked down the dock. There was still much to be done, but she was safe and seaworthy, and to prove it she soon had a Certificate of In spectio n on the charthouse bulkhead. Two years later we are still working to improve Young America. Probably it will be another two years before we can say "Now all we have to do is maintain her." We have had an enormous amount of help from many. Thanks to ITT Decca, SEA HISTORY, SUMMER 1980