Launch Date
Ernestina/Morrissey Sails Again by Julia Brotherton , Assistant Project Director, Ernestina/Morrissey
W hile teaching them the near-forgotten a rts of sa iling tall ships, she will be giving young cadets invaluab le expe rience in selfreliance a nd teamwo rk-the corne rsto nes o n which our natio nal he ritage is fou nded. As Director of the Nautical Heritage Museum , I see a unique oppo rtunity fo r our o rgani zati on to provide the full range of sail tra ining from e ntry level in small boats o n up to blue wate r sailing in the Califo rnian . O nce afl oat, a young skippe r knows that he alo ne is res po nsi ble fo r his boat a nd himself. He is keenl y aware that the re is absolutely no substitute fo r knowing what need s to be done and being able to do it alone. T he ex pe rience of wo rking with th e natu ra l fo rces of wind and wate r and maste ring the m to advantage is exhilarating . As he goes on to larger vessels he learns the vita l need fo r teamwo rk . And learning to sail a nd doing it well has a pe rvasive and lasting effect, affecting us lo ng afte r we have left th ose ea rl y yea rs behind . T he re is now in place a working comm ittee th at is able to offe r competent professional instruction and suppo rt to ad minister the classes . And o ur H istori c Watercraft Committee offe rs not onl y a tra ined shipwri ght , but a strong volunteer fo rce to assure th at our fl eet of small boats is ma inta ined in good conditio n . Las t fa ll th e Ame rican Sa il Training Associati o n des ig nated us to be Regio na l ASTA Representati ve for the State of Ca li fo rn ia. We are working hard to c reate sup po rt and enthusias m for sail tra ining o n th e Wes t Coast. Admiral Jack La ngille, USN (Retired) , who helped w rite o ur Ca lifornian sail tra ining syllabuss, fo rmul ated the Nava l Academy sail training prog ram a nd he lps coo rdinate our wo rk with th at of ASTA . We are confident that we will be able to provide a program that combines th e virtues of vigo rous phys ical acti vity, tra in ing in balance, timing and judgment , selfconfide nce through sel f- reliance, com municatio n through teamwork while teaching Ame ri can hi story-a n unbeata bl e combinatio n! But we can use yo ur help to whi stl e up a littl e mo re wind fo r the Califo rnian ! Funding for the ship is totall y pri vate: fo undatio ns, corporatio ns and indi viduals are donating their time, resources and mo nies to make this exciting dream a reality. Our fundrai sing goal of $2 ,500,000 is 70 pe rcent complete. All of the ship's maj o r construction materials have been purchased and a last financial push is needed to unde rwrite the labo r costs of fin al constructi o n and rigging. Oppo rtunities fo r participatio n are available at all levels a nd you a re e nco uraged to get involved . Just d rop a line to: Cali fo rni an, 24532 Del Prado, Da na Po int CA 92629. Tel: 714 661-1001. w SEA HISTORY, SUMMER 1984
Famous at the turn of the centu ry as a Grand Banks fis hing schoone r, then an acclai med Art ie explorati on vessel before and d uring Wo rl d Wa r II , and a celebrated transatlantic sail ing pac ket in the postwa r yea rs, the schoo ne r Ernestina ex-Effie M. Mo rrissey is refi tting today as a mu seum ship th at has been mandated to continue operating under sail -as she did conti nuously fro m he r launc hing in 1894 to her las t commercial voyage to the US in 1965. Following the vessel's last American voyage in 1965 some Nati o nal Ma rit ime Hi sto rical Soc iety members began to thin k of he r as a poss ibl e histo ri c shi p for South St reet Sea po rt Museum , a nd worked to aro use inte rest in he r case. An initial atte mpt to return the ship to Ame ri ca fa iled due to a dis masting in 1976. Ernestina was the n ac quired by th e govern ment of the Re public of Cape Ve rd e who, with the help of the Friends of the Ernestina and the Nati onal Maritime Histo ri cal Soc iety, unde rtoo k th e restoration of the aged schoo ne r.
T he Ern estina arri ved in the United States in August 1982, greeted with fanfare. A five-person , State-appointed Massachusetts Schooner E rnestina Commission took title to the ship a nd sti pul ated that she be kept acti vely sailing as a n educatio nal vessel. Afte r this pro mising welcome, howeve r, the momentum somehow flagged . The schooner was towed to Gloucester, and there she languished fo r nea rl y a year without fund s, leadership, o r specific plans. But the summe r of 1983 saw re newed acti vity o n board the 89 yea r-old schoo ne r. The Ernestina Commission.appo inted a Captain fo r the ship, Daniel Mo rela nd , who holds an unlimited Masterof Sail license and has twelve years of deep-sea sailing expe rience which include fo ur yea rs as a n offi cer on board the Dani sh tra ining ship Danmark. Mo rela nd gathe red togeth e r some mo ney
and a crew, made some minor repairs to the ship, and took Ernestina sailing in the fall of 1983-gain ing expos ure fo r the ship and emphas izing the fac t that she is an historical vessel th at sails. The ultimate plan is to operate the Ern estina as a Sa iling School Vessel certified by the Coast Guard under the new regulations. The sai l-tra ining program th at Mo reland and othe rs have des igned for th e ship will allow Ern estina to suppo rt he rself fin ancially. Twenty-fi ve stude nts, supervised by the Captain and seven crew, will live aboard fo r weeks o r mo nths at a time as the ship sails the waters of the Atl antic. Summe r trips up and down the East Coast and winter trips across the Atl antic (to Cape Verde and Afri ca) and to the Caribbea n a re planned . Included in the program will be both extensive sail training (sail handling, marlinspike seamanship, nav igati on , coope ratio n) and the teaching of histo ry and culture, with an e mphas is o n the connectio ns amo ng the communities of the Atl antic Basin and the multi-ethni c parti cipation in the sea-going trades. To e nsure that a wide va ri ety of s tu de nts be nefi ts fro m thi s ty pe of educatio n, an extensive scholarship program w ill be impl emented . An estimated $400,000 is needed to resto re a nd outfit th e Ernestina for acti ve commiss io n unde r this sail-training progra m . T he ship's rig wi ll be resto red to the fi shing schoo ne r rig carried up to 1953, a C ummins-donated engine will be instal led, accommodations for students will be outfitted below, and electronic nav igatio n and safety equipment will be purchased . With the stro ng bac king of Governor Michael Duka ki s a nd State Senator William Maclean, the State of Massachusetts has appropriated ove r half of the fund s needed to carry out the project . Hundreds of indi viduals have already made do nations of goods and mo ney to the Ernestina; additi onal fund s and mate rials a re still being sought fro m both private a nd public sources . Readers wishing to help should contact: Schooner E rnestin a, 13 Centre St., New Bedford MA 02740. Tel: 617 992-4900.
The 1983 crew ofthe Ernestina,.from left to right: Normwi Gomes, Linda Bailey, Mac Coombs, Joy Cardozo, Craig Walsh , Julia Brotherton , Chandler J1'.ynn , Captain Daniel Moreland.