that have also been returned to sail . Edna , owned by Brad Ives of Washington, DC , is a schooner-rigged cargo vessel trading in the Pacific. Geesje van Urk is a ketchrigged charter vessel registered in Holland . Edna and Geesje are still at their origi nal length of 90ft. Sagamore was lengthened to 11 Oft during the 1950s . ALBERT E . HICKEY General Partner Portsmouth Ship Trust Portsmouth , New Hampshire Sagamore is now hauled up at the historic Portsmouth Marine Railway where she is being rebuilt as a barkentine . She will be under the new Coast Guard regulations implementing the Sailing School Vessels Act of 1982. Starting in 1987 she will sail with oceanography students from the University ofNew Hampshire .-ED.
Historical Action! The Erie Canal Museum was glad to participate in the Waterways Conference you sponsored at Rennselaersvi lle in January. The National Maritime Historical Society has set an example for all of us in the " hi story business" who can and sho uld be actively involved in the contemporary lives of our subjects . The Erie Canal Museum 's evolving role as a canal activist will have a high priority following last month ' s discussions! VICKI B. QUIGLEY, Director Erie Canal Museum Syracuse, New York We hope to go on with these lively interests that were so much to the fore at this conference which we cosponsored with the New York State Museum . Who knows . . . next year inSyracuse ?-ED.
Launching at Rondout As a footnote to Roger Mabie's fine article on the Port of Rondout , I would like to comment on the launching of the wooden ship Esopus at the Island Dock. The day of the launching was a big event for the area and the building of Esopus and a later sistership , Catskill , were high-watermarks in ship building on the Creek. I was about five or six at the time and my father took me to see the launching together with my uncle and cousin . We rowed in a skiff from the Cornell shops up the creek to the barge graveyard on the south side of the Creek not far from the launch site . There was quite a wait before the launch took place but we could tell from the shipyard sounds how the launch procedure was progressing . Finally , we heard the wedges being knocked from the launch cradle and with the blowing whistles and the ringing of bells, Esopus slid down the ways into the Creek. SEA HISTORY , SUMMER 1986
The launch was a great success until the Esopus hit the water. As soon as she was afloat, she overcame the restraints and moved across the Creek until she grounded in shallow water on the far side of the Creek. There she remained until late afternoon when high tide and a couple of Cornell tugboats worked her free. It was an exciting day and I had a great tale for my schoolmates the next day . WILLI AME. TI NEY Del mar, New York
Dr. No! One of the reasons that I decided not to renew [my membership in the NMHS] concerns my position as a professional hi storian and what I regard as an ineffectual program demonstrated by your magazine SEA HISTORY in developing a national awareness in the field of maritime history. The journal represents neither a professional journal or an " Americana " approach because , I feel, it tries to be all things to all people . I might also add that I was able to attend but one meeting, June , 1985 , at Essex and was, once agai n speaking as a professional historian, disappointed in a clearly projected and experienced impression of "old boy network " of former yacht owners, etc. [sic]. While I am the owner of a yacht myself, that fact remains immaterial to the fact that I have been interested in maritime history fo r twentyfive years and hope , either through OAS or AHA, to awaken a generation of Americans to our very rich maritime history . (NAME WITHHELD), PhD New Rochelle, New York As an historian, Dr. Withheld might have noted that the Essex affair she comments on had only one yacht owner on the program-Harry Anderson of the American Sail Training Association, who uses his yacht in sail training . It did have former oilers, coal passers, Cape Horn square rig germen-but perhaps she doesn' t consider that such people contribute much to maritime history. In any event, we wish her well in her chosen profession .-ED.
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EDITOR'S LOG From far corners of the ocean world, ships are under way as we go to press, to take part in Operation Sail-a salute to the Statue of Liberty on her hundredth birthday. In this issue of SEA HISTORY you ' ll read of a doughty nineteenth-century Ligurian trader coming from Italy, and of the lovely bark Elissa of 1877 , restored by the Galveston Historical Foundation in Texas-a story many of our members have played an active part in. In thi s issue also you'll find some reflections on the opening of the Atlantic world, and particularly the role of Prince Henry's school at Sagres , Portugal. (We are particularly interested in your thoughts on this because we are contemplati ng a very broad-based educational effort on this theme , as soon as we have our all-i mportant Campaign for Sea History tucked away). Some people have expressed concern about the contribution of Operation Sail to the mission the ships sail upon , and to the cause of maritime education . It 's a valid concern-with valid answers. In 1976 Operation Sail provided initial funding fo r the Maritime Division of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Operation Sail people have been endlessly helpful in our work, beyond thatin fact , to a large extent , the them in this case is us. But I think we all would agree that the main contribution is the very thing Operation Sail is about-bringing young people of many nations to our shores, and awakening the interest of the American people in the ships and their people. It is up to us, we feel , to take it from there! And so we are doing. With the National Trust, thi s year, we are cosponsoring the Elissa's trip to northeastern ports , where she will carry a strong educational message for the maritime heritage , and visitors will be invited to sign up as members of the National Society and the National Trust , right there on the spot. On the West Coast , there is no question as to the educational content of Expo '86, a world 's fair devoted to transportation which includes a strong maritime component. In this issue we take a look at two hi storic tugboats from the heroic era of logging , and in the Sail Training section we go to sea aboard the fast-stepping schooner Robertson II . There is more to tell of thi s effort, which we ' ll report on in our next. PS 3