A Visit to Mystic Seaport (with pics)

[Subnuts]

Back in May (nobody said I was punctual!) I finally got around to visiting Mystic Seaport in Mystic, CT. This place has been variously described as an incredible experience or a tacky tourist trap, depending on who you ask. In my opinion, if you're interested in wooden ships and boats, or America's maritime history, you owe yourself to visit at least once in your lifetime. I spent five hours there, and felt like I could have spent another hour or two if I wasn't suffering from a headache due to the intense sun. Admission price is kind of steep, but I was able to get passes for half-off admission at my library.

Anyway, onto the pictures. I tried to take as many as I could, but my camera's battery wouldn't hold out for my entire visit, and a lot of the indoor exhibits were kind of dark. These pictures probably only present about half of what you can see there.

An anchor outside the entrance. There's another anchor, from a British 74-gun ship, that's twice this size and located deeper in the seaport.


A lighthouse lens. Pretty sophisticated for it's time.


The Gaff schooner Lettie G Howard and the steamboat Sabino. It was pretty early on in the season, and a lot of the boats and ships had much of their yards and rigging in storage or undergoing repair in the shipyard. The steamboat operates several times a day, but apparently rides didn't start for another couple weeks. Oh well!


Next to the shipyard, there was a building that housed the entire keel, stem, and sternpost of a whaling ship built in the 1820s. I couldn't get a good shot of the entire thing, but I managed to get this picture showing the stages of hull planking.


Three shots showing the shipyard "in action." The upper floor contains some interesting exhibits describing the restoration of the Charles W Morgan, the last surviving Yankee whaling ship, and you can watch the shipyard team at work from above. However, It didn't look too busy that day. I think the main focus is on the Morgan at the moment, and they were just sprucing up some masts and yards.






You can also take a peek inside from the bottom floor, but can't go in very far.


The Charles W Morgan has been Mystic Seaport's centerpiece since 1941. She's the last American-built whaling ship in the world, and was lifted out of the water in 2008 to begin a lengthy restoration to sailing condition. When I visited they were in the process of completely re-planking the hull. This is no halfassed restoration - they even removed all of the frames from the forward and after quarter of the ship, fabricated new ones, and had the new one installed in place.


Here's what lifted her out of the water. I took this picture atop a somewhat precarious five-flight wooden staircase you have to walk up to get onboard the Morgan. When they return her to the water, you'll just have to take a brief walk across a gangway.