Mystic Seaport is the colonial williamsburg of maritime new england. it i
s basically a living museum of a 19th century new england port. they have an active shi
pyard where the museum's own ships such as the whaler charles w. morgan and other historical ships such as the charles w. morgan are being restored and ships like the amistad were actually built at. amistad was back in port for a refit following a cruise in the caribbean including stops in cuba. the shipyard was buzzing with activity while i was the
re. men were attacking pieces of lumber to plane down to make new knees for the morgan, and replacing topmasts and yards on the amistad. it was an interesting thing to observe. despite being in the yards, the morgan was still open for business. i'm always amazed at how cramped the quarters are and the very narrow amount of room seperating the officers quarters from the crew quarters. they also had the stoves for boiling w
hale fat down to make oil. there was a bit of stuff about whaling at mystic seaport, not as much as in new bedford though, mostly because new bedford was the king of whaling.
in addition to the shipyard, the port also shows all the support facilities one would need to maintain an active fleet. sailmakers, shipchandlers, navigation instrument dealers, merchants, taverns, schools, churches, black smiths, and cordage maker's ropewalks are all open to be toured. i walked through the ropewalk to see how they made line in the old days.. basically they took big wheels of thread and used these machines in the distance to combine the threads into bigger strands and those into bigger strands and then walk it along down this narrow, long building. pretty neat.
they also had demonstrations of equipment for whaling, codfishing, and oystering.
the port is full of various old boats, some of which you can go sailing, rowing, riding around the harbour in. i had to get back on the road, so, i only spent 2 hours here... one can easily spend a full day.
s basically a living museum of a 19th century new england port. they have an active shi
pyard where the museum's own ships such as the whaler charles w. morgan and other historical ships such as the charles w. morgan are being restored and ships like the amistad were actually built at. amistad was back in port for a refit following a cruise in the caribbean including stops in cuba. the shipyard was buzzing with activity while i was the
re. men were attacking pieces of lumber to plane down to make new knees for the morgan, and replacing topmasts and yards on the amistad. it was an interesting thing to observe. despite being in the yards, the morgan was still open for business. i'm always amazed at how cramped the quarters are and the very narrow amount of room seperating the officers quarters from the crew quarters. they also had the stoves for boiling w
hale fat down to make oil. there was a bit of stuff about whaling at mystic seaport, not as much as in new bedford though, mostly because new bedford was the king of whaling.
in addition to the shipyard, the port also shows all the support facilities one would need to maintain an active fleet. sailmakers, shipchandlers, navigation instrument dealers, merchants, taverns, schools, churches, black smiths, and cordage maker's ropewalks are all open to be toured. i walked through the ropewalk to see how they made line in the old days.. basically they took big wheels of thread and used these machines in the distance to combine the threads into bigger strands and those into bigger strands and then walk it along down this narrow, long building. pretty neat.
they also had demonstrations of equipment for whaling, codfishing, and oystering.
the port is full of various old boats, some of which you can go sailing, rowing, riding around the harbour in. i had to get back on the road, so, i only spent 2 hours here... one can easily spend a full day.
