SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS News from Mystic: People, Ships and Facilities
SPUN YARN The Burlington Schooner Project, a partnership between the Lake Champlain M aritime Museum and the Lake Champlain Tran sportation Company, will build a replica of the " 1862" cl ass of ca nal boats (88' in length and 14. 5' in beam) designed on Lake C hamplain ; with sails up , the schooners carried goods and people on the lake, then, with lowered masts, the transfo rmed vessels could travel the Northern Canal to the Hudso n River. (LCM M, 4472 Basin H arbor Road, Vergennes VT 0549 1; 802 1 "'
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475 -20 22; fax : 802 475-2953; e-mail: lcmm@sover.net; web sire: www. lcmm .org) .. . Inspired by rhe histo rical role of p ri vateers and lerrer-of- marque vessels in the early US Navy, Woodso n Woods has commiss ioned Rockport Marine in Maine to build the 76' topsail schooner Lynx. Woods will base the schoo ner in Newport Beach, California, and will run educational programs exploring the era of the War of 18 12 and the p riva teers that ran our of Eastern ports. (W oods M aritime Foundation, 509 29 th Sr. , Newport Beach CA 92663; 949 723-78 14; fax: 949 723-78 15; web sire: www. privareerlynx.o rg) . .. The Jamestown-Yorktown Fo undation in Virginia, in the midst of a major overhaul preparing fo r rhe 400rh anniversary of the arrival of the first colo nists at Jamestown in 1607, plans to build new replicas of two of its vessels-the Godspeed and D iscovery-based on new archaeological and documentary research. QYF, PO Box 1607, Williamsburg VA 23 187-1 607; 757 2534838) .. . N ext summ er th e Sea Trek Foundation plans to recreate the historic migration between 1840 and 1890 of more than 90 ,000 Mormon converts fro m Europe to rhe US. A fleer of rail ships will leave Esbjerg, D enmark, on 7 August 2001 to (Con tinued on page 38)
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Mys ti c Seaport, the Museum of Ameri ca and the Sea, has announced that RADM D ouglas H. Teeso n, USCG, will be the next president of the museum . Teeson , since 1997 superintendent of the US Coast G uard A cademy in New London , Co nnecticut, will rake up rhe pos ition in July 2001. Admiral T eeson is a 196 5 graduate o f rhe Coast G uard Academy and holds mas ter's degrees in ocean engineering from the Unive rsity of Rhode Island and management science from MIT's Sloan Fellows Program. Ar rhe Academy he has expanded outreach program s and has been instrumental in the Center for Leadership D evelopment, as well as being a co mmuni ty leader in OpSail 2000. Retiring President J. Revell Carr has welcomed Teeson ' s leadership skills and his passion for Am erica's maritime histo ry noting: "D oug is a progressive thinker, which will be critical as he wo rks with the staff and trustees to plan the future of the M useum ." In the six months foll owing C arr's retirement Admiral D ouglas H. Teeson in D ecember, M ys tic T rustee Emeritus James F. English, (Photo: Mystic Seaport) Jr., fo rme r president of Trini ty College and former chairman of Conn ecticut Bank and T rust Company, will serve as interim president. Fo r 20 years, rhe Wo rld Ship T rust, based in London , has recognized exceptional examples of ship preservatio n with its Mari rime H eritage Award. On 23 September, Senato r C hristo pher D odd of Connecticut presented the Maritime H eritage Award to Mystic Seaport fo r their preserva tion and restoration of the Charles W M organ, the last wooden American sailing whaleship. Jacques C hauvea u, chairman of the World Ship T rust, was the keynote speaker. T he Charles W Morgan, built in 184 1 in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, served a remarkable 80 years in the whaling industry, sailing our on her last voyage in 192 1. She was taken on by the maritime museum in 194 1. There, the Morgan was p rese rved agro und with her lower hull filled with rock salt, awaiting the vision of di recto r Waldo Johnston, who would begin rhe development of the Henry B. du Pont Preservation Shipya rd, where the Charles W Morgan and a host of other historic ships wo uld be resto red . (Wo rld Ship T rust, 202 Lambeth Road, London , SE l 7JW, GB ; (2 0) 7385 4267; e-mai l: ws r@callneruk.com) Mys tic has also entered th e fin al phases of the creation of its Collections Research Center, a stare-of-the-arr fac ili ty to house collections and collection-care faciliti es and staff in one location. More than two million obj ects will move to the 4 1,000-square-foor space in th e adapted Rossie V elver Mill, along with curators, archivists, conservators, researchers, informati on-services professionals, and film and audio specialists. The project's to tal cost is $ 15 ,689,4 18. (M ys tic Seaport, Inc., PO Box 6000 , Mys tic CT 06355-099 0; 860 572-071 1; www.mysricseaport.org) ,t The plans for the renovated Rossie Velvet Mill
Film & Video
Informat ion Se rvices & In terne t
Strat e gi s
Photographic Administra tio n
Storage Film & Video
Photographic Production Studios & l a boratories
Curat<orial Storage Area
Photogra phic Storage Ships Pla ns
Curatorial Ce nte r
SEA HISTORY 95, WINTER 2000- 01