The Apprenticeshop, a school for traditional boatbuilding and seamanship in Rockland, Maine, has finished building one of the 10 replica whaleboats that the Charles W. Morgan will carry onboard during her 38th Voyage in 2014. Students at The Apprenticeshop celebrated their graduation from the two-year boatbuilding program on June 14 with the launching of the 29’ Leonard whaleboat.
On June 16, seven students and staff members embarked on a 350-mile rowing and sailing journey to deliver the boat to Mystic Seaport and to also honor the seafaring traditions of Maine. After stowing their full two-week’s gear in both the whaleboat and the accompanying chase boat Advent (a 36’ Bud McIntosh schooner), the open boat left the dock at Rockland with Captain Bryan McCarthy, Apprenticeshop director, at the helm. Apprentices Rachel Davis, Daniel Creisher, Simon Jack, Garrett Farchione, and Tim Jacobus were in the rowing stations. Apprenticeshop board member Pat Lydon joined the flotilla when they reached Port Clyde later that day.
The crew is posting photos, videos and daily updates of their journey on The Apprenticeshop’s Facebook page and blog and, as of the most recent post on June 20, they have already reached Kennebunkport, Maine. The whaleboat will arrive at Mystic Seaport in time for the 22nd Annual WoodenBoat Show (June 28-30) and will be displayed for Museum visitors. Five Beetle whaleboats also built for the Morgan project will join the Leonard on display. These boats are from the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia; New York City’s Rocking the Boat; Gannon & Benjamin Marine Railway of Vineyard Haven, MA; Beetle Boat Shop of Wareham, MA; the New Bedford Whaling Museum; and the Great Lakes Boat Building School in Cedarville, MI.
