Month: June 2017

Retired Mystic Seaport Vice President Dana Hewson will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at this weekend’s 26th annual WoodenBoat Show.

Hewson, the Seaport’s vice president for watercraft preservation and programs and Clark Senior Curator, retired in April after 39 years. He was in charge of the museum’s collection of more than 550 boats and helped oversee the restoration of the Charles W. Morgan, Roann and construction of the replica of the Amistad.

“The WoodenBoat Show team has worked closely with Dana and his staff over the years producing the shows at Mystic Seaport. We are thrilled to honor and thank him for his dedication to Mystic Seaport and his support of the WoodenBoat Show,” said Jim Miller, president of WoodenBoat Publications.

Hewson will be honored at a Saturday dinner held in conjunction with the show. Also set to be honored for lifetime achievement that night is Boatbuilder George Luzier. He has built hundreds of boats, ranging from daysailers to outboard skiffs to cruising sailboats. Several of his boats are cherished by longtime owners, including the 39′ 1967 John Alden-designed ketch Horizon of Castine, Maine.

The WoodenBoat Show is presented by WoodenBoat Magazine and attracts about 13,000 wooden boat enthusiasts each year. The show will run Friday through Sunday. Information and tickets are available at www.thewoodenboatshow.com.

Mystic Seaport recently added a new vessel to its watercraft collection, the 25-foot motorboat Gramp.

Designed by noted naval architect William Hand and built in 1915 by L. West of Port Chester, NY, Gramp is an excellent example of the fast and seaworthy “Hand v-bottom” launches and runabouts that were plentiful in the decade before World War I.

If she looks familiar, Gramp was the featured boat of our 2015 Antique & Classic Boat Rendezvous. She is the only surviving example, (to our knowledge), of this revolutionary design and has been kept largely original.

The boat’s construction is carvel cedar batten-seam planking, fastened with bronze screws to white oak sawn frames, backbone, keel, and floor timbers. Her cedar decking has been covered with epoxy and Dynel.

She has a transom-hung rudder with drum steering. Her mahogany cockpit coaming, trim, and transom are finished with bright varnish.

Gramp is powered by a 62 h.p. Westerbeke Model W-70 6-cylinder gas engine connected to a Scripps 1:1 transmission with mechanical engine controls. She has a 11”X 9” 3-blade bronze propeller on a 1 1/8” bronze shaft.  She can cruise as 10-12 knots with a top speed of 20 knots. She has a 30-gallon stainless steel fuel tank.

Gramp comes to the Museum from Coecle’s Harbor Boat Yard, Shelter Island, NY, where she has been maintained for many years.  She will be on display in the water this summer and will be available beginning mid-July for private “Couples” cruises on the Mystic River (price to be determined by availability and itinerary).

For 68 years, children have been coming to Mystic Seaport during the summer, with their duffel bags filled with swimsuits, t-shirts, and sneakers, and learning to sail while living on board the full-rigged ship Joseph Conrad.

Literally generations of some families have stowed their gear on Conrad for a week or two in the summer. They have learned to sail, navigate by the stars, the biology of a squid, and the history of whaling on the Charles W. Morgan. Grandfathers, fathers, sons. Grandmothers, mothers, daughters. They have tied knots and climbed rigging. They have rigged a Dyer Dhow and manned the tiller on a JY15. They have learned self-confidence and independence and personal responsibility. Generations.

Of the seven 2017 staff members at the Joseph Conrad Overnight Sailing Camp at Mystic Seaport, all but two were first campers here, then Sailing Assistants, and are now counselors. The Camp Director, Katie Zirkel, arrived as a camper 14 years ago. Now 26, Katie has maintained her connection to Conrad Camp ever since, moving through the ranks.

A native of Westchester, PA, Katie’s family summered on Fishers Island, which is how she heard about Conrad Camp initially. “When I came here, I loved it,” she said. “There was such an independence to this place. And I loved the people. I made lifelong friends. It was truly wonderful. And because I had such a great experience as a camper, I want others to be able to experience that as well, that happiness and independence and camaraderie.”

All of the staff interviewed said they came back as counselors after being campers and Sailing Assistants because they wanted the chance to do for kids what their own Conrad counselors had done for them.

“When I started as a camper, I learned to sail, and then when I would come back I would improve my sailing,” said Trey Schwack, 19, of Bethel, CT, now in his second year as a counselor. “When I was a Sailing Assistant, the camp was still giving to me – I was learning responsibility, learning to be an adult and be my own person. Now as a counselor, the camp has given all it can to me and now I can give back to the camp.”

Says Elizabeth Wilson, 18, of Litchfield, who started as a camper in 2010: “I had counselors who taught me so much and helped me determine who I am. I want to have that influence. I want to help someone find their path like I was helped.”

Austin Begg’s father went to Conrad Camp in 1976, so it was an easy choice for the Basking Ridge, N.J., 10-year-old to decide in 2007 that he wanted to go there too. Ten summers later he is still here, this year as a counselor for the first time. His younger sister Lindsay has graduated from camper to Sailing Assistant this year and his other younger sister Gillian will be here in a couple of weeks for her fourth year as a camper.

Conrad Camp “taught me a lot more than just how to sail,” Austin said. “The counselors I had here helped me become an independent person.”

Grant Scherling, an 18-year-old from Norfolk, CT., started camp in 2011 and worked his way up to counselor this year. His older brother Jordan also came to camp here. “I love the work,” he says. “I’ve been sailing my whole life and I like the idea of helping kids learn to sail. It’s a lifelong skill that I can get them started on.”

For Kasturi Yalamanchili, the decision to become a United States citizen after living here for 13 years was an easy one.

“It’s my country now,” the Wilton, CT, resident said. “When I go back home (to India) I feel like I don’t belong there anymore. When I go back there now, it is a vacation, because this is my home.”

Yalamanchili was one of 74 people who took the Oath of Allegiance on Wednesday during the 6th annual Flag Day Naturalization Ceremony at Mystic Seaport. They represented 32 countries.

“It is a special privilege to welcome all of you to beautiful Mystic Seaport on Flag Day,” said Museum President Steve White in opening remarks. “Mystic Seaport is America’s leading maritime museum, and we tell the story of America’s maritime heritage, which often includes immigration. Many of us, either ourselves or relatives from long ago, emigrated here by sea, whether it be sail, steam or power. It was always a voyage of hope, anticipation and anxiety.

“Today you will leave Mystic Seaport as citizens of the United States, and on your personal voyage that started years ago, you completed a leg of that journey today.Now you will add your imprint to your country’s story. It is our story. It is now your story too. We honor your path, and we wish you well.”

Representatives of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ran the ceremony, hosting Stonington First Selectman Rob Simmons and representatives from U.S. Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal and Rep. Joe Courtney. Enthan Enzer, section chief, and Nieves Cardinale, field office director of the USCIS office in Hartford, offered remarks.

This was the second year that the Honorable Judge Robert A. Richardson, U.S. magistrate judge for the District of Connecticut, administered the oath of allegiance and handed out the certificates of citizenship. In his remarks, Judge Richardson noted that he “shamelessly begged” to oversee the ceremony this year because he enjoyed it so much last year.

“Before I administer the oath, I would ask everyone to look around at this group,” Judge Richardson said. “This is a good illustration of what America really is all about. We have a very diverse group in front of us. And in the end it doesn’t matter where you came from or what your race is or what religion you practice, or if you even practice a religion at all. At the end of the day we are all Americans.”

Theresa Boakye-Mensah of Ghana has lived in the U.S. since 2008. She resides in East Hartford and works as a caregiver. She wanted to become a citizen because “I love this country. I like the rule of law.” For Hector Ceron of Guatemala, after living and working in Stamford, CT, as a mason for 17 years, “I want to be a part of this country. This country has given me so many opportunities, and I want to give back to it.”

Pasquale Poccia came to the United States more than 30 years ago from Italy. He owns and runs an Italian restaurant in New Canaan, CT, and until this year was just “too busy” to become a citizen. His wife and children are all citizens and he just decided now was the time. “I love this country. I want to be part of it.”

Gloria Manheimer, a hair stylist from Ridgefield, CT, also wanted to become a citizen because everyone else in her family is one. Her husband of 14 years, Isaac, is American, and their two children were born here. Gloria came here from Ghana. “I want my family to all be from the same country,” she said.

Sri Kanagala of Mystic was in the audience to watch his wife Vara, daughter Vineela, and son Deep take the oath. The family has lived here for 18 years – coming from India when Vineela was 1-year-old. “This is a proud moment,” Sri said. “This is our home. We are very attached to Mystic. Our children grew up here.” Sri expects to become a citizen soon, as well.

For Maurice Bunnell and Jorge Luis Speranza of East Haven, being able to be together has been a long journey. They met 11 years ago, and legally wed in 2013. It wasn’t until the federal Defense of Marriage Act was ruled unconstitutional that they could marry and Maurice could sponsor Jorge for citizenship from his native Italy. “This means a great deal to us. It is a very emotional and exciting day.”

Countries represented today: Albania, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Cote D’Ivoire, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Macedonia, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, South  Korea, St. Lucia, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uzbekistan.

When Mystic Seaport President Steve White learned last year that a local yacht club held a special regatta for members of the Wounded Warriors Project, he knew this was something the Museum needed to be involved with.

“The Mystic Seaport experience presents a marvelous opportunity for our Wounded Warriors and their families,” White said. And so planning commenced in late winter among various Museum departments, and several staff members who are also veterans were brought into help, including Brehan Brady, a member of Wounded Warriors and a rigger at the Museum.

The planning culminates Saturday, June 17, in a special day for members of the Wounded Warriors Project, their families and their caregivers.

“We are pleased and proud to open our campus and our arms to them for a special day of activities and camaraderie,” White said.

Mystic Seaport worked with the New York chapter of Wounded Warriors Project, which includes New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Invitations were sent to members of the chapter, their families and caregivers to enjoy a day at the Museum as our guests.  More than 130 people are expected to attend.

After an official welcome ceremony in the morning in the Claggett Boat Shed, guests will hear an historical overview of the Museum, have guided tours of the Henry B. DuPont Preservation Shipyard and the current restoration projects (Sabino and Mayflower II), watch demonstrations by riggers, blacksmiths and coopers, take a waterfront tour on board Liberty, view a Planetarium show and enjoy a complimentary cookout lunch provided by Coastal Gourmet.

Brehan Brady said he was gratified and humbled by the Museum staff’s interest in providing a day of experience at Mystic Seaport to Wounded Warriors. Staff Sgt. Brady served in the U.S. Army as an infantryman with the 101st Airborne Division from 1999 through 2007, including two deployments to Iraq and one to the Sinai Peninsula. He saw active combat on the front lines through much of his service. Brady suffered several severe concussions during his service, and in 2010 was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury related to those concussions. He suffered damage to his occipital lobe and among other issues, suffers from an extreme sensitivity to light. He came to work at Mystic Seaport as an interpreter two years ago, and for the last 18 months has worked as a rigger.

Brady belongs to the Wounded Warriors Project, and says it always bothered him living in Connecticut that there weren’t more activities near his home in Pawcatuck to be part of. The New York chapter covers Connecticut and New Jersey and the Boston chapter covers Rhode Island so he found himself in a bit of a no man’s land.

“It’s always been in the back of my mind that this place has tremendous potential to have a positive impact on the lives of veterans,” he said.

The Museum’s involvement with veterans will continue past the Saturday event. In the fall, the Mystic Seaport Sailing Center will host a series of sailing classes for veterans.

“The goal of this class is to build camaraderie among veterans of all eras and services,” said Ben Ellcome, Assistant Manager of Sailing Programs. “The veterans will learn basic sailing and whaleboat rowing but they will also learn about the history of the sea through the historic vessels at the museum. The museum grounds and our fleet of historic watercraft will be used as floating classrooms to further the veterans’ understanding of our common history of the sea and sailing.”

Brady understands the power of Mystic Seaport for veterans.

“My coworkers and friends at Mystic Seaport have played the biggest role in my recovery from what happened to me overseas, and I know that all those who attend the event will benefit from the experience. This is a very special place.”

After the idea was floated to host Wounded Warriors, “there was overwhelming support for it,” he noted. “So many people from across departments said ‘How can I help?’ It was really validating. I like to say that I got back in 2007 (from the war) but I felt like I came home when I started working here.”