On the Water in Historic Boats
Yet another way to get on the water and mess about with boats...
Article by Jett Conner
I no longer sail or own a boat. An octogenarian now, the mere thought of roll tacking a dinghy ever again makes my eyes roll. That said, it does not mean I’m through messing about in boats. But after owning twenty-plus boats of various kinds over the years (all used with the exception of the very first sailboat), I now must find other ways to get out on the water. Arthritis in my hands makes it hard for me to pull in a taut jib sheet in a stiff breeze or paddle against the wind. So, I have looked for other options to continue boating now and then.
In the past, my wife Rosie and I took advantage of sailing on small rental boats while on vacation. A laser in Vancouver Bay, a Hobie Cat in Mission Bay, an ancient (and very leaky!) wooden Windmill in Key Largo are examples. The largest rental boat I once sailed (solo) was a Santana 22 taken out one afternoon from Sausalito to San Francisco Bay, escaping for a while from a boring conference I was attending. The smallest, canoes and kayaks, were paddled at various locations. All fun and memorable experiences. But we’re exclusively passengers these days. Rosie, who happily took over the helm in our last years of sailing, finally agreed it was time to turn the fun and responsibility over to others.
Now, we often find ourselves in cities and towns with harbors when travelling. Prowling around docks or maritime museums is always pleasurable. A retired academic (political scientist rebranding as a historian), I’ve become interested in the past few years in historic sailing ships. Restorations or replicas built by talented staff and volunteers at museums or historical societies, these boats—some drydocked, others afloat—are noteworthy reminders of the past. Many museums also have small boat exhibits and shops where vintage boats are on display and are being restored or reproduced. An International Penguin by Philip L. Rhodes, hull #1, stands out at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, because we once owned several iterations of this fun craft.
The Charles W. Morgan whaling ship at Mystic Seaport and the square-rigger Balclutha at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park were especially interesting to board and poke about. The Morgan, on the hard for a full restoration when we visited, is now back at sea. It is the oldest wooden commercial ship still afloat, only bested by the USS Constitution. Guests were allowed to board and see features of the Morgan (such as the try pots) during the five-year work in progress. Tall ships events held periodically around the country provide more opportunities to see and explore vintage sailing vessels.
Some boats offer an even better experience by taking guests aboard for short day trips, just about the right amount of time for us former day sailors. Besides, leaving the sailing to others lets us relax and simply enjoy the wind and waves, and still say what we always said to each other after pushing away from shore in one of our own boats: We’re on the water!
So far, we have been out on only two historic sailing ships. Each is a faithful reproduction. But both represent our goal of occasionally seeking out brief adventures in sailboats or other designs, big or small, of historical significance.
The Lady Washington is a recently built version of a ship named for a grand lady, Martha Washington. Completed in 1989 with a home port in Grey’s Harbor Historical Seaport (in the state of Washington, of course), it typically roams the waters just off the northwest coast of America, stopping off in various harbors along the way for special events and two-hour day sails on local waters. Sticking close to home in 2023, the 112’ brig is scheduled for a refit in 2024.
The original ship was an American Revolutionary warship. Following the war, it became a merchant ship. In the year of the Constitutional Convention, 1787, it left New England for the Pacific, rounded Cape Horn, the first ship to do so flying the American flag, and spent the next ten years as a merchant vessel in the Pacific Ocean. Initially involved in the northwest maritime fur trade with native tribes up and down the coast, it was ordered to China, and after visiting Japan and taking several other trips back and forth across the Pacific, it eventually foundered in 1797 in the Philippines.
We caught up with the Lady Washington in Crescent City and though the afternoon was calm, cool and classic Pacific grey, we enjoyed a leisurely sail just off the coast. A special treat was watching young people who were participating in a weeks-long training program shout out their commands as they hoisted the sails and climb the ropes to wrap them up at the end of the excursion.
A second trip aboard a historic ship, also in the Pacific but this time in the southern hemisphere, was on the Ted Ashby, a recently built merchant ship at the New Zealand Maritime Museum in Auckland. Based on the classic flat-bottomed, flat-decked sailing scows plying the local waters a century before, this ketch-rigged boat delivered another leisurely sail, this time on a bright and sunny day.
We found the museum to be so good and packed full of boats and gear, from Polynesian outriggers to America’s Cup challengers, that we spent several days visiting there. A substantial portion of the museum is devoted to Peter Blake, the late skipper who led New Zealand’s successful challenges for the Cup.
While aboard the Ashby, we noted a large cruise ship anchored not too far from the museum. Not thinking anything of it at the time, we learned afterwards that the liner, the Ovation of the Seas, was the one involved a few days later in a disastrous event that occurred on the day we left New Zealand in 2019, December 9. A group from the ship had left in small boats to explore a volcanic island just off the northeastern coast of New Zealand. Joining others who had arrived there by other means, many became victims of an explosive eruption on Whakaari/White Island. We also learned that alarming alert levels based on seismic activity had been raised in the weeks before, but apparently not enough to prevent trips to the island from continuing.
Hopefully, our mini adventures on historic boats will continue. So long as possible we’ll find ways to get out on the water, especially on boats of noteworthy old designs. There certainly are plenty of opportunities, as even a casual search on the Web will reveal. Most of the boats and museums mentioned in this article have their own websites. •SCA•
Thanks for the correction on the name Balclutha. My mistake. Appreciate the catch. Also, while we're at it, it's English Bay, not Vancouver Bay, where we sailed a laser.
Correction: wished for small boat with a jib…