SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS SPUN YARN A quarrer ofHulett iron ore unloaders on W hiskey Island in Cleveland, O hi o, which are on rhe Narional Regisrer of Historic Places, is scheduled to be demolished. The fo ur ren-sro ry-high, 880-ron Hulens were builr in 19 12 and wo rked conrinuously unril 1992, hel ping to make Cleveland rhe grearesr iro n-o re rerminus in rh e wo rld . T he Cleveland-Cuyahoga Coun ry PorrAurhori ry has agreed to disassem ble and store one of rhe Hul errs for furu re use in an histori cal serring. T he Port has told rhe Hulen Preservarion Fund rhar a second could be saved if $25 0,000 can be raised. (HPF, PO Box 606285, Cleveland OH 44 106) ... T he USS Silvers ides and Maritime M useum in M uskegon M I has acqui red rhe former USS LST-393 . T he Wo rld War II-era landing ship tank was converted to a ca r carrier by the W isco nsin and Michigan Steamshi p Co. and put in service between M uskego n and M ilwaukee unril its retirement in 1973. Ir will rake up to two years of resto ration and berrh prepara tion befo re the decorated vessel is open fo r public to urs. (USSSMM, PO Box 1692, 1346 Bl uff, M uskegon M I 4944 1; 6 16 755- 1230) . . . T he American Sail Training Association's Tall Ships Challenge is a program of races and rallies planned to take place over the next three years, beginning in rheG rea t Lakes in 2001 , moving to the Pacific Coasr in 2002, and then to the Adanric Coas t in 2003. (ASTA, PO Box 1459, Newport RI 02840; 401 846- 1775; h rrp ://rallships.sailuaining.o rg) ... Maritime arti fact collector D r. C harl es E. Burden is writing a mo nograph abou t " personal containers" -maritime chests, boxes and bags of all sorts. H e is inrerested in such arti fac rs owned privately, parti cularl y those with good documentation, as well as acco unts of seafarers obraining or using these conrainers, and historic photographs. (Maine M aritime M useum, 243 W ashington St. , Bath ME 04530; email: M aritime@BathMaine.co m) ... The Van der G raaf yard in T he Nerherlands launched the racing schooner Eleonora on 3 1 M arch 2000, 90 years to the day afrer the launch of her predecesso r, rhe legendary H erreshoff schooner Westward whose plans were used in her consrruction (see Sea H istory 91 , p. 39). T he Royal Yachr Squadron has launched a bid fo r rhe Adanric C hallenge C up and has chartered Eleonora
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Amistad Hits the Water To grear acclaim , the freedo m schooner Amistad was launched ar M ys ri c Seapo rr in Co nnecricur on Saturday, 25 March 2000 , and chrisrened wirh warer from Sierra Leo ne, C uba and Long Island . T housands gathered at the museum to welcome rhe new vessel and honor the memory of the capti ves from Sierra Leo ne who rook over the original Amistad, whi ch was raking chem in to slavery in 1839. Their recaprure and rrial brought white and black Americans rogerher and garnered suppo rt fo r rhe abolirion movement. T he fund char was begun to assist rhe Africans in America and hel p rhem gee home afrer rhe successful completion of the trial was instruTop: Amistad is Lowmenral in the fo unding of th e ered into the Mystic American Missionary Associarion River. Above: Samuel and rhe esrablishmenr ofblackcolPieh, a descendant of leges. T he new Amistad sails with the Leader of the Amirhe mission of teaching such fo rs tad Africans, Sengbe. gorren sto ries and improving relaRight: Shirley Yema Gbujama, minister of social rions among rhe races. welfare, gender and children affairs in Sierra T he building of rhe Amistad Leone (foreground), and actress Ruby D ee christen began as the dream of Warren Amistad with water from Cuba, Long Island, and Sierra Leone. (Photos: Mystic Seaport) M arr, II, fo rm er editor of th e NAACP journal Crisis (and currently an NM H S T rustee), who chartered the schooner W estern Union and sailed her in OpSail '76 to represenr theAmistad, drawing attention to an importanr piece of American histo ry that had been buried in rhe record. G radually, his pl an picked up new advocates, until in 1994 the State of Connecticur committed major funding and Mys ti c Seaport gave the project a home. T he launch is only rhe beginning. Afrer three more months of work Captain Bill Pinckney expects to take her on her firsr voyage on 2 July, to head for New York H arbor fo r OpSail 2000 on the Fourrh of] uly. Afrer rhat, she will begin sailing Ameri ca's coas ts, stopping to rell the sto ry of rhe Amistad Africans and to build co nnecrions among races and communi ries. (Amistad America, Inc., c/o Mys tic Seaport, 58 G reenmanville Ave. , PO Box 6000 , Mysric CT 06355; web site: www.amisradamerica.o rg)
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for that evenr in 2002. (M artin Romein, Clot de Mingo t 10, N -4, 03590 Altea (Alicante), Spain, 316 5198 78 03, e-mail: romein@cv.es; we b site: www.eleonora .dps l. com) ... T he Schoo ner H arvey Gam age Fo undation, which runs school terms at sea fo r high school and co llege srudenrs, as well as summer Seafaring Camp programs, has announced a name change to the Ocean Classroom Foundation. T hey are expected to close on rhe purchase (Continued on page 40)
The Eleo nora is Launched in The Netherlands. (Courtesy M artin Romein)
SEA HISTORY 93, SUMMER 2000