In the high season at Mystic Seaport Museum, it’s common to see young visitors walking around the grounds carefully cradling a contraption in their two hands. Upon closer inspection, one can see that it is a boat of some sort, made of wood, with bits and pieces of various shapes and sizes sticking to it, and sometimes including paper, string, and more. Each one is unique, the result of its captain’s artistic eye and glue-gun skill.

For about 10 years, Mystic Seaport Museum’s Build-A-Toy-Boat shop has churned out thousands of little pine boats crafted by artists ages 4 and up, some modest with just a hull and some coloring, others complex, with spars and masts and rigging and paper sails. By some estimates, there may be close to 100,000 little wooden boats adorning mantle pieces and gathering dust in attics all around the world, made by visitors from late March through October every year.

It takes a village to keep this activity afloat. For most years, the wood shop in the exhibits department made a batch of hulls and small pieces to get the season started, and then would crank up production whenever supplies ran low during the summer. Interpreter Patricia Willis, who oversees Toy Boats, “would call me up telling me we were low,” said Alan Schaeffer, a fabricator/carpenter in the exhibits department. “I never had a child not have the parts he or she needed to build their boat … but I did run it kind of close a few times.”

In the interest of avoiding panicked phone calls from the Toy Boat Shop and rioting children, Schaeffer took a “big picture” look at the production of all the parts and pieces and decided this year to try an experiment. So his Toy Boat team spent the winter months, one or two days a week, making everything that would be needed for the full season. “I wanted it all to be more efficient,” he said.

Toy Boats opens for weekends-only on Saturday, March 23 – 10 a.m. to 4:40 p.m. It opens daily for the season on June 15. The cost is $5 per boat.

Toy Boats are made from cheap wood, in this case pine roof sheathing board. The supply comes from Arnold Lumber in Westerly, which provides a good price and makes sure there’s a good mix of clean boards and knotty ones. They use about 5,000 board feet in a year.

Cut, cut, and then cut again

The first step in the process is to cut the large board into three equal long sections. Those sections are then run through the radial saw to make the pieces for the boat hulls. The shape of the hull rarely changes – it is similar to the outline of a catboat, and is angled at one end for the transom. The pattern is traced on each block (they still have the original pattern made 10 years ago) and stacked in piles of 20. (One hull change made recently was the addition of a Viking longship hull for Viking Days, a special event that debuted last year and returns this year June 1-2.)

A radial saw then cuts out all the hulls from the blocks, and they are boxed up, 160 to a box. 9,300 hulls have been produced this winter, the only part of the program that is inventoried. The extra pieces are used as pieces for the boat builders, and anything left over at the end of the season becomes kindling for wood stoves used throughout the museum.

Masts are made out of long thin strips of wood, cut at 6-inch intervals. The rest of the parts that go into building a boat are random – small cubes, larger cubes, rectangles, small thin pieces for spars or yards, and an even smaller thin piece that typically becomes crew on the boats.

The team – made up of volunteer Bill Mortenson and Museum staffers Willis, Peter Barres, Schaeffer, and Carson Hill – is winding down, having filled bags and bags with wooden pieces.

Toy Boat Building was started by Jonathan Shay, who retired from the Museum in 2018 after 34 years here. At the time he launched the activity, he was director of both interpretation and exhibits, and so, as he put it, “I didn’t have to ask anyone. I gave myself permission to do it.” He wanted to add a hands-on activity for children that spoke to the Museum’s mission and enhanced the visitor experience.

Popular from Day 1

They opened Toy Boat Building in a tiny alcove behind the Ship Carver building. “Everyone loved it, but the problem was they were all falling apart because we were using regular white glue,” Shay noted. “I realized this had great potential, but not if people had to wait three hours for their boat to dry.”

So glue guns were introduced to the process, and staff made some prototypes for people to use as inspiration, “but it was always so great to see how the visitors would just make it their own way. And theirs were way more interesting than what we did.”

The space was so small that there was always a line out the door to make a boat, so first they tried adding an outdoor space, and then they moved it to the Art Spot building across the way. These days, Toy Boats is located next to the John Gardner Boat Shop.

It’s interesting to note that the original charge for a toy boat was $5, and it remains so today.

One new change for 2019 – toy boat building that doesn’t involve hot glue. Because of the glue guns, children have to be 4 or older to make a toy boat. Schaeffer felt bad about that, and has seen his share of crying toddlers outside the Toy Boat building who aren’t old enough to go in. So this year he is making hulls that have two or three holes drilled in them. The mast pieces fit into the holes (literally a square peg in a round hole) and with a little push, are sturdy as can be and ready for decorating.

“It’s such a great activity,” Schaeffer said. “I think it’s part of the magic of the place, when you’re here your imagination is running and it’s an irresistible activity.”

Shannon McKenzie, director of Watercraft Programs at Mystic Seaport Museum, was named Volunteer of the Year by Tall Ships America at its Annual Conference in Los Angeles on February 27.

The nonprofit gives the award annually to “an individual member of Tall Ships America who has significantly advanced our overall mission.” For the last six years, McKenzie helped to orchestrate and plan the group’s annual convention, working on scheduling, logistics, and content. This year she also planned and led a plenary session on Workforce Development and a forum on Administration during the conference.

Jonathan Boulware, executive director of South Street Seaport Museum, presented McKenzie with the award. “He was the first captain I worked for when I started my career,” she said, “on Sound Waters out of Stamford, CT. So that was very special for me to receive the award from him.”

“I’m very honored,” McKenzie said. “And I’m pleased to be able to continue to work with Tall Ships America and support the great work they do.”

Tall Ships America is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization focused on youth education, leadership development and the preservation of the maritime heritage of North America. In addition to organizing the TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE® Series, Tall Ships America manages scholarship programs to make sail training experiences more affordable for young people, grant programs to assist crew of member vessels with the costs of professional development courses and licensing requirements and publishes SAIL TALL SHIPS! A Directory of Sail Training and Adventure at Sea.

Schooner Brilliant at Mystic Seaport Museum is a member vessel of Tall Ships America. Brilliant‘s new captain, Dan McKenzie (no relation to Shannon) attended the conference as well.

The Thompson Exhibition Building, designed by Centerbrook Architects & Planners, has been recognized with a national award by WoodWorks – Wood Products Council.

The Thompson Exhibition Building was recognized in the “Commercial Wood Design – Low-Rise” category – one of nine national awards bestowed by WoodWorks. The Wood Design Awards celebrate innovation and excellence in wood building design across the country.

This is the fourth recognition for the Thompson Exhibition Building since it opened to the public in the fall of 2016 at Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut. The design previously garnered the Honor Award-With Distinction by the AIA QUAD Awards, and was named by the CT CREW Blue Ribbon Awards as the Best Specialty Project. In 2018, ArchDaily – the world’s most-visited architecture website – named the Thompson Exhibition Building one of the 100 Best Wood Architecture Projects in the U.S.

The Centerbrook design team, led by Principal Chad Floyd, FAIA and Senior Director Charles Mueller, AIA, chose wood as the predominant building material for its form, function and aesthetic capabilities. The Thompson Building’s more prominent wood features include Douglas fir glulam beams spanning the entire width that give the building its unique curvilinear shape, and arresting western red cedar exterior cladding.

With its 5,000-square-foot Collins Gallery exhibition space, the Thompson Building is the centerpiece of Mystic Seaport Museum’s reimagined mission that brings a new focus to exhibitions. With its functional flexibility, the Thompson Building has strengthened the museum as a year-around tourist destination.

Mystic Seaport Museum, Mystic Aquarium, Olde Mistick Village, and Downtown Mystic Merchants have banded together to create and promote a new brand for Mystic tourism — Sea Mystic.

Together the attractions and business are providing an initial $100,000 to the Greater Mystic Chamber Foundation to fund billboards, digital advertising and a referral website to promote the iconic Mystic experience to visitors.

The campaign launches April 1.

“The goal of this initiative is simple — and something we know well at the Museum — a rising tide lifts all boats,” said Steve White, president of Mystic Seaport Museum. “By increasing awareness of the Mystic brand, we hope to increase traffic and visitors to Exit 90 for the benefit of everyone.”

The initial $100,000 will promote the Sea Mystic brand on high-profile billboards on the Interstate 95 corridor in Fairfield and New Haven. It will also be a new domain name — SeaMystic.com — that will redirect to the long-standing Mystic.org website. There, visitors will find information about the Mystic Pass — a joint ticket for Mystic Seaport Museum and Mystic Aquarium that offers discounted admission.

The Sea Mystic billboards, digital marketing, and website are being coordinated by Miranda Creative of Norwichtown, CT.

Mystic Seaport Museum launched an initiative to work toward eliminating single-use plastics on its 19-acre site on the Mystic River.

The program is being developed and implemented through the leadership of a staff Sustainability Committee in collaboration with the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Md. The teams at each museum share information, resources, ideas, and results of implementation efforts, and will be giving a joint presentation at the 2019 Council of American Maritime Museums Annual Conference in Manitowoc, Wis., this coming April.

“Both of our museums are situated on estuaries, which brings with it the responsibility to be stewards of the water and shoreline that provide so much for our institutions,” said Steve White, president of Mystic Seaport Museum. “We recognize the gravity of our role in shedding light on the human impact on ocean health, and we believe in doing our part to help change that impact in a positive direction and to set a standard among maritime museums and surrounding communities.”

The Sustainability Committee at Mystic Seaport Museum began meeting in early 2018 at the direction of White, who encouraged the committee to make recommendations for financially sustainable, positive changes to the Museum’s impact on the environment that also will inspire and energize the public to adopt similar practices.

“In searching the web for information on plastic pollution, it is very easy to become overwhelmed with all the organizations, the photos, the news stories, and the tips, which can lead paralysis because it’s too hard, it is too vast a problem,” said Sherri Ramella, who leads the committee. “But we have to start somewhere and focus on what can be accomplished with each tiny step.”

In conjunction with the Museum’s food-service partners Coastal Gourmet and Event Network, the following changes replacing single-use plastic products have been implemented:

• Paper shopping bags instead of plastic
• Nautical-themed reusable shopping bags made from 100-percent recycled plastic water bottles are available for purchase
• Plant-based straws and pasta stir sticks
• Plastic lids and straws are available upon request only
• To-go containers and serving ware have been switched to paper rather than plastic or foam
• Catered events are using wooden utensils, and plant-based cups, or rented china, glasses, and cutlery.

Moving forward, the Museum will continue to investigate ways to reduce single-use plastic consumption, while keeping in mind that alternatives used must be ecofriendly, and will focus on making changes across the Museum grounds to enable visitors to reduce plastic consumption and recycle more effectively.

Ramella observed that plastic is a product designed to last forever and In the first 10 years of this century the world economy produced more plastic than in the entire 100 years of the  20th century.

“This is not a problem we can ignore,” she said. “Habits are hard to change, but once they’re changed, the new habits are just as strong.”

Mystic Seaport Museum has named Daniel McKenzie captain of the schooner Brilliant.

The 61-foot schooner is the platform for one of the oldest youth sail training programs in the country. Designed by legendary naval architect Olin Stephens II and launched in 1932, Brilliant operates a busy schedule of summer youth programs and spring and fall adult programs on multi-day cruises throughout New England and beyond. McKenzie will be responsible for all aspects of the vessel’s operation.

“Being captain of Brilliant requires someone who is not just an outstanding mariner, but someone who understands the special role the schooner plays in introducing young and adult sailors to the joys and life lessons of sailing,” said Mystic Seaport president Steve White. “Brilliant is a public ambassador for the Museum and everything that makes sailing special. We are confident Dan is the right person to be at Brilliant’s helm.

McKenzie brings extensive experience in sail training and education with billets on numerous sailing vessels, including the Los Angeles Maritime Institute’s 110-foot brigantine Exy Johnson, the clipper Stad Amsterdam, Pride of Baltimore II, and most recently completing three trans-Atlantic voyages on the SeaMester vessel Argo.

“My emphasis in sail training is definitely to make sure that the students have a strong foundation and support net where they feel comfortable challenging themselves–and being challenged,” said McKenzie. “I expect that for a lot of these people maybe they’ve been on boats before, but not a sailboat, and certainly not on such a large boat that requires so much work.”

For high school students, getting beyond peer approval and instilling self-confidence is a key goal for McKenzie.

“They are at a time in their lives when the approval of their friends matters a lot to them—and that’s OK—but  they need to know that none of it matters if they don’t have confidence in themselves,” he said. “I think that is part of the reason why I enjoy challenging students so much on these boats. It’s an important lesson for everyone.”

A native of New Jersey, McKenzie has a B.S. from Warren Wilson College and is presently completing a M.S. ExEd from Minnesota State University. He holds a USCG 500 tons Ocean Masters License and is a resident of Mystic, Conn.

When asked what is he looking forward to most in his new post, McKenzie had a quick answer: “Sailing that beautiful boat!”

For more information about the Brilliant and her sail training programs, please visit the Brilliant webpage.

 

Within Mystic Seaport Museum’s exhibition Death in the Ice: The Mystery of the Franklin Expedition, is a reproduction of one of two sledges used by the crew of the HMS Terror when they abandoned their ship trapped in ice in the Arctic, sometime in the spring of 1848.

The sledges were built by the crew using planks from the trapped ship. Each sledge held a ship’s boat, which was in turn packed tight with food and equipment needed to survive the fierce Arctic weather. A team of eight men, wearing leather “bridles” across their torsos and attached to the sledge with heavy rope, would haul the vehicle across the snow and ice. The sledge itself could weigh 700 pounds, the dory another 700, plus all the food and equipment packed in it. In total, the weight to be hauled could reach more than 1 ton.

Spending time in the Death in the Ice exhibition, one can imagine the growing desperation of the men on the trapped ships, as they cannibalized their vessels to build what they hoped would be their means of escaping the elements and finding rescue in the third year of their ordeal.

As part of the Museum’s first-ever Ice Festival on Presidents Day weekend (February 16-18), a team of volunteers with the Gung Ho Squad designed and built a replica sledge for visitors at the Festival to try and haul. The modern-day sledge is already easier to haul than the original, as it is made from lighter weight fir as opposed to the heavy oak planks of the Terror and Erebus. In all, the reproduction weighs 150 pounds, not including the dory. It has similar dimensions to the originals, but this version has a flat top to accommodate the Museum’s dory while the Franklin crew’s sledge would have had a top to hold dories with curved bottoms.

Museum volunteer RJ Lavallee, who is volunteer coordinator of the Gung Ho Squad, designed the sledge from photos of a sledge created for filming of the 2018 AMC television series, “The Terror.” Museum Rigger Sarah Clement created the bridles. Lavallee and fellow volunteer Bill Salancy worked with Shipyard Maintenance Foreman Scott Noseworthy on the project in the Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard.

Visitors to Ice Festival can show off their sledge pulling talents on the Village Green at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.