SHIP NOTES
EXPERIENCE THE THRILL of square rig and 7000 ft. of sail. Weekly cruises in the warm waters of Southern New Eng Iand between Long Island and Nantucket aboard 108' square topsail clipper Schooner "SHENANDOAH" For color folder & complete information write:
THE COASTWISE PACKET CO., Box 429S VINEYARD HAVEN, MASS. 02568 617-693-1699
SAIL VERMONT
Windjammer Cruises On Lake Champlain
Schooner Homer W. Dixon 3, 4 & 6 Day Cruises For Brochure & Information:
P. 0. Box 787· U Burlingto n, vr 05402
Phon°'
(BOZ) 86Z·6918
A unique experience. $360·400 weekly, includes everything . Brochure, Toll Free 1-800-225-5800
Schooner TIMBERWIND Capt. Bill Alexander
Box 247 SH, Rockport, Me. 04856
Sail Ho! on a '\ 2-day Sneak,""-.Away!
~~~
America's No. 1 windjammers - Mystic Clipper, Mystic Whaler to lovely harbors of New England or Chesapeake. $169.-$219. Also 5-day, I-day/ overnight. Private cabins. tiled heads, showers. Free Folder: Out O'Mystic Schooner Cruises, P .O . Box 487. Mystic, CT 06355 Instant Reservations: 1-800-243-0416
~ail into Living History <:_Jail the Maine Coast on the Famous Fishing Schooners out of Gloucester Sc hooner ADVENTURE immortal· ized in Joe Garland's new book Queen of the Windjammers (send for book _,,..__ information). Schooner ROSE WAY, last sailing pilot vessel.
by Warren Riess and Sheli 0. Smith
Early in May of this year the bow of an eighteenth-century merchantman made its final journey from Groton, Massach usetts to Newport News, Virginia. The timbers belonged to the Ronson ship , purposely buried at what is now 175 Water Street, New York City, to bulk shore expansion material in the middle of the eighteenth century. In the winter of 1982 the construction of a thirty-story office building required the removal of the ship from its grave. In thirty-two days we archaeologically excavated the ship , recording everything as we dug , and removed the first twenty feet of the bow, piece by piece. To remove , conserve, and exhibit the whole vessel would have cost an estimated six million dollars (see SH 28 , Summer 1983 , " The Ronson Ship") . Since 1982, a number of specialists have worked to conserve the bow and the few artifacts found in the ship , chemically and physically test the wood, plan for the bow 's reconstruction , analyze the hull , and research the ship's history. As research continued during the last three years , many people were trying to find a good home for the Ronson ship's bow (see SH 35, Spring 1985 , "The Ship That Built a City"). While we worked in the field throughout that cold and dark February in 1982 we di scussed the future of the ship's remains. The obvious repository would be a Manhattan museum ; New York is America's largest port. The ship had helped the port expand its trade in the eighteenth century and , in her grave, was a part of the physical expansion of the city. But no New York museum felt that the bow would fit properly into their institution 's theme , nor could any find the space for the exhibit. The reconstructed bow would measure approximately 20x20x20 feet , and an exhibit area to properly display the ship's story would take much more space. John Sands , Director of Collections at The Mariners' Museum in Newport News , Virginia, heard of the bow 's availability and fl ew to New York in time to see the whole port side of the ship emptied of its eighteenth-century fill. After inspecting the bow and walking through the hold of the old merchantman , he decided that he wanted the bow in The Mariners' Museum. He returned to Virginia to discuss the situation with Museum officials . In two days the
Museum made an offer to acquire and exhibit the Ronson ship's bow . During the next three years the National Maritime Historical Society led a drive to keep the bow in New York . After a Jong hard effort, which even included the endorsement of Mayor Ed Koch (who visited the excavation in 1982) , not enough space and funding could be found in New York . In the spring of 1985 all parties agreed that The Mariners ' Museum , being one of the world's finest museums, would be the proper home for the Ronson ship. In early May of this year Betty Seifert ' s crew of conservators at Soil Systems laboratory pulled the timbers out of the solution of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and water. PEG , a synthetic microcyrstalline wax which is soluble in water, penetrates the wood and supports cell walls when the timbers dry, preventing the wood from collapsing and distorting during the drying process. The conservators then wrapped the timbers , loaded them into a trailer truck , and drove them to Newport News. Each piece was carefully moved into the museum 's basement and placed on pallets and racks. The timbers , just out of the PEG solution, must be slowly dried for two to three years before reconstruction. Museum staff therefore increased the humidity in the basement to 96% and covered each timber with plastic . Since the thinner pieces would require only about one year to dry, they were placed in a storage pool filled with a PEG solution. Larger pieces are coated periodically with PEG.
The Ship Beneath th e
_ . _. .
Schooners ADVENTURE & ROSEWAY Box 696SH • Camden, ME 04843 • 207-236·4449 Largest windjamm ers in the Camden fleet.
34
The Ronson Ship Finds
Henry Hogge and Warren Riess set up Jay Ros/offs research model of the Ronson ship bow for an exhibit in The Mariners' Museum. Photo, Th e Mariners ' Museum.
SEA HISTORY , AUTUMN 1985
c·1ty ·