The Famous Yacht ATLANTIC

This binnacle stand, from the yacht ATLANTIC, rests on a decorative metal tripod with a stylized lion head at the top of each leg and a dolphin representation on each foot. It contains a 7" magnetic compass which is hung in 4-way gimbals. It has a brass hood with an oval reading window and 2 receptacles for oil lights, one on either side.

In 1905 the ATLANTIC won the Kaiser’s Cup in a trans-Atlantic record-setting time for a monohull boat that stood for nearly 100 years. The Museum has a number of artifacts from the ATLANTIC.

Accession number: 1952.1044

Battle of Stonington, 1814

With the advent of the bicentennial of the War of 1812, it seems fitting to highlight one of the defenders of Stonington, CT during the British attack of 1814. The man with the intriguing eyes is Simeon Haley, captain of the Schooner Sally Ann. The portrait appears in the book America and the Sea: Treasures from the Collection of Mystic Seaport. The book will be brought to life as an exhibit in the Museum's Schaefer Exhibit Building at the end of March.

After participating in the battle, the next day Captain Haley was involved in a daring ruse whereby he purportedly sailed a small boat with a few other men to attract the attention of a British ship. The ship lowered a boat of marines to capture Haley's boat but Haley and company grounded the boat, and with the help of others on shore, captured the marines instead.

Christmas on the CHARLES W. MORGAN, 1889

The G.W. Blunt White Library recently received a journal for the 1889-90 voyage of the CHARLES W. MORGAN out of San Francisco. There has been tremendous interest in this journal, because the keeper, Honorio A. Martin, the second mate, along with the crew of his boat, were left behind by the MORGAN after a Nantucket sleigh ride took them out of range of the ship. They eventually ended up on Sakhalin Island (as reported in the papers of the time), were initially arrested, then made their way to Hong Kong before eventually getting back to San Francisco a month after the MORGAN had returned.

However, the initial part of the voyage was uneventful, and a melancholy second mate Martin recorded the following on the 21st day out of San Francisco as they headed for the Japan and Okhotsk grounds:

"Wednesday, December 25th. Another Christmas is passed by. Still I am wandering on the high seas without a home or abiding place. I wonder how many more I have to pass at sea. Not many, I hope. I am almost tired of this sea life and as soon as possible I will leave it and try to make a living on shore. Today we finished overhauling forward."

Well, his holiday blues and his later brush with death did not dissuade him from doing at least one more voyage as his journal picks up again in 1891 aboard the bark TRITON leaving on a whaling voyage out of San Francisco.

The journal will be available for research purposes once it is cataloged.

A New Sailing Card

This picture of a sailing card showing a brig-rigged steamer under the heading of the STAR LINE is a recent purchase and is of particular interest to Mystic Seaport. The reason? Three of the vessels listed, the CONSTITUTION, the NEVADA and the WEYBOSSET, were built in Mystic in the mid-1860's. The CONSTITUTION was not only built at the George Greenman yard, her captain was also a Greenman. The AMERICA was a Connecticut vessel as well, built in Portland, CT.

This particular sailing card is the size of a normal postcard and was used, as were all sailing cards, as an advertisement to drum up business for particular ships or lines. Click on this sailing card link for more cards in the collection at Mystic Seaport.

Eddystone Light

This image of the Eddystone Lighthouse from the sketchbook of Lieutenant (later Captain) George Tobin, R.N., was done in the year 1800. This was the third light to be built at Eddystone and was completed in 1759. When it began incurring damage from waves in the 1870's, it was dismantled, piece by piece, and erected on a piece of land called Plymouth Hoe as a monument to its ingenious creator, John Smeaton.

George Tobin's sketchbook will be on display in March as part of the exhibit on Treasures from the Collection of Mystic Seaport. Click on the word "sketchbook" to take you to the full digital version.

Pie Anyone?

With the relentless advance of the seasons, and Fall creeping up on us, the thought of a good harvest of apples brings to mind the thought of pies. At least for me.....

Pies have always been a staple in the American diet, and pies were made with all sorts of fillings. However, many homemakers took a special interest in the decoration of their crusts and pie crimpers were made with that thought in mind. The trimming or decoration of dough for a pie made the crimper a very utilitarian object in the kitchen, and a whaleman with a little bit of time on his hands and some talent in the area of carving could produce some interesting crimpers.

The crimper pictured here is actually a very simple design for the most part. Many have handles that are exquisite in their piercings and framework. This single handled crimper looks more like a modern pizza cutter than anything else. However, according to Richard Malley in his book GRAVEN BY THE FISHERMEN THEMSELVES, he states, "What makes this piece unusual..is the recessed edge of the cutting disk on which is carved reverse lettering in high relief. When used to cut dough, the crimper, with each full turn of the wheel, boldly prints along the edge the message "GOOD PIE WELL MADE."

Bon Appetit! (crimper accession number 1947.1605)

Morgan Coin Revisited

The Collections and Research Department had a visit from Carl Swebilius, who has been blogging about the restoration of the CHARLES W. MORGAN, and members of the Pawcatuck Valley Coin Club on June 22nd. Larry Erhard, Dennis Fortier, Bill Jacobik and Scott Rottinghaus examined the coins that were removed from under the MORGAN'S masts in 2008. While one, a 1997 silver dollar was in very good shape and unspectacular in its date, the other two were unknown entities, although a 1947 article in local papers reported that one of the coins was an 1841 penny. The second coin, while massively corroded, was determined to be an Eisenhower silver dollar dated between 1971 and 1978. The 1841 penny was neither a penny nor from 1841. With coin identification books and magnifiers in hand, the group made short work of the the identity.

The "penny" was, in fact, determined to be a 1908 Barber silver half dollar minted in Denver. The top image is what the front of the half dollar now looks like. The next image is what a Barber half dollar SHOULD look like. The third image is the reverse image of the front of the coin as photographed on the bottom of the mast in 1947 and the last image is the back of the coin as it now looks.

Traditions and ceremonies go back centuries where the building and launching of ships are concerned. From the barbaric sacrifice of humans, to the breaking of champagne bottles on the bow, the most interesting might be the installation,for luck, of a coin under a mast before it is stepped. Not only is the luck of the ship accounted for, but so is its history. Finding a 1908 coin under the mast tells us that work on that particular mast was done sometime after that date, giving us confirmation of events that are documented elsewhere.

Having local friends to help in the pursuit of historical fact is something that is greatly appreciated at Mystic Seaport.