This issue of the Mystic Seaport Museum Magazine features our newest exhibition, Alexis Rockman: Oceanus, and articles on Blue Technology, the Blue Economy, and introduced species, highlighting a shift in perspective at the Museum to raise awareness and inspire conversations around the critical global issues that face our oceans due to the impacts of maritime activities as part of our collective cultural, social, and economic heritage. Also included is news from the Shipyard on the L.A. Dunton and Coronet projects, Sabino’s return to the water, and much more!
AVAILABLE APRIL 18: ALEXIS ROCKMAN OCEANUS Published by Mystic Seaport Museum and Rizzoli Edited by Christina Connett Brophy
Mystic, Conn. (April 18, 2023) – Mystic Seaport Museum is pleased to announce its latest publication Alexis Rockman: Oceanus, available April 18. Published as part of the artist’s upcoming climate-focused exhibition at the Museum, the publication documents Rockman’s newly commissioned 8-by-24-foot panoramic painting and ten related watercolors. These important works tell the story of ocean life and ecology as affected by humankind and look above and beneath the ocean’s surface to examine critical environmental and social issues of our past, present, and future.
Edited by the Museum’s Senior Vice President of Curatorial Affairs and Senior Director of Museum Galleries Christina Connett Brophy, the 160-page publication will accompany the presentation of Rockman’s paintings with contextual imagery, photographs of Alexis Rockman at work, and essays by leading writers and scholars, bringing together the arts, humanities, and ocean sciences.
The catalogue was co-published by Mystic Seaport Museum and Rizzoli International Publications Inc. with contributions by Robert D. Ballard, Christina Connett Brophy, James T. Carlton, Sylvia A. Earle, Michael R. Harrison, Alexis Rockman, Helen M. Rozwadowski, and Nari Ward. The work was designed by Tony Morgan/Step Graphics, Inc. and the Managing Editor was Todd Bradway.
Mystic Seaport Museum is the nation’s leading maritime Museum. Founded in 1929 to gather and preserve the rapidly disappearing artifacts of America’s seafaring past, the Museum has grown to become a national center for research and education with the mission to “inspire an enduring connection to the American maritime experience.” The Museum’s grounds cover 19 acres on the Mystic River in Mystic, CT, and include a recreated New England coastal village, a working shipyard, formal exhibit halls, and state-of-the-art artifact storage facilities. The Museum is home to more than 500 historic watercraft, including four National Historic Landmark vessels, most notably the 1841 whaleship Charles W. Morgan. For more information, please visit mysticseaport.org and follow the Museum on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.
Museum’s First Solo Exhibition of a Contemporary Artist to Feature 10 Newly-Commissioned Large-Scale Watercolors and Panoramic Painting
Opening May 27, 2023
Mystic, Conn. (April 3, 2023) – Mystic Seaport Museum is pleased to present Alexis Rockman: Oceanus, an exhibition of newly-commissioned, marine ecologically-focused watercolors and a central panoramic painting by Alexis Rockman. The exhibition will be on view from Memorial Day Weekend, May 27, 2023, and will feature Oceanus, an 8-by-24-foot panoramic oil painting, in addition to ten large-scale watercolors.
Since his early color field paintings on canvas in 1985, Rockman has used natural history as a basis for exploring climate change and the biodiversity crisis. Drawing from natural histories of the past, Rockman confronts possibilities of a dystopian future. In Alexis Rockman: Oceanus, the artist looks above and beneath the ocean’s surface to examine critical environmental, therefore social, issues of our past, present, and what the future may hold. In saturated colors, Rockman depicts the development of marine technologies over time towards increased exploitation of the world’s ocean, both the forced and intentional ocean passages of people, the introduction of invasive marine life through human activity, coastal fragility in a changing climate, and the ongoing cultural fascination with the unknown and underexplored deep ocean.
Alexis Rockman: Oceanus depicts a cautionary vision of a dreamlike yet cynical climate worldview. A world beneath the ocean’s surface is reflected in cascading shades of blue and green, populated by sea creatures that fill the canvas in dynamic and exquisite detail. Upon closer examination, these beautiful otherworldly scenes are revealed as polluted and over exploited, with ships looming above through dark skies marred by oil rigs and a tsunami wave crashing towards the viewer.
Drawing from Rockman’s tradition of looking to history to examine the future, Oceanus features depictions of twenty-two vessels, sixteen of which were inspired by models of watercraft in the Museum’s collection. The boats and ships presented help to show the history of human activity in relation to the ocean, including their direct ties to the exploitation of resources in the world’s waters. In Rockman’s own words,
“The works in this show will tell the story of humankind’s indelible relationship with the ocean and the connections between the sea and our own survival. The project will probe this complex story through the Museum’s collections and the history of the oceans and their people.”
Cast in an ethereal luminescent light, Rockman’s twelve watercolors depict a future sea in a half state of survival. A jellyfish drifts by the outline of a sunken truck and house in Tropical Island, while marine species invasions are enabled by floating plastics across oceans. The works suggest a bittersweet adaptability: survival of the natural world among toxic conditions that could have been prevented with proper action and human recognition.
At Mystic Seaport Museum, the nation’s leading maritime Museum, the exhibition is representative of a dedication to spreading awareness of the issues our oceans face. Oceanus will also serve as the anchor in a Museum-wide initiative to educate visitors on marine invasive species.
[Alexis Rockman: Oceanus will coincide with a solo exhibition at Sperone Westwater, and will be followed by Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman: Journey to Nature’s Underworld at The Bruce Museum.]
Alexis Rockman: Oceanus will be accompanied by extensive programming and companion exhibits on marine species invasions, blue technology, and sustainable fishing, as well as new riverside exhibitions. A 160-page publication by Rizzoli and Mystic Seaport Museum will also be presented alongside the exhibition, bringing together essays on the arts, humanities, and ocean science.
Mystic Seaport Museum is the nation’s leading maritime Museum. Founded in 1929 to gather and preserve the rapidly disappearing artifacts of America’s seafaring past, the Museum has grown to become a national center for research and education with the mission to “inspire an enduring connection to the American maritime experience.” The Museum’s grounds cover 19 acres on the Mystic River in Mystic, CT, and include a recreated New England coastal village, a working shipyard, formal exhibit halls, and state-of-the-art artifact storage facilities. The Museum is home to more than 500 historic watercraft, including four National Historic Landmark vessels, most notably the 1841 whaleship Charles W. Morgan. For more information, please visit mysticseaport.org and follow the Museum on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.
How My Internship at Mystic Seaport Museum Brought Me Closer to My Tribe’s Beading Heritage
By Cheyenne Morning Song Tracy, White Earth Anishinaabe (Ojibwe)
Photo by Cheyenne Morning Song Tracy, White Earth Anishinaabe. At Tomaquag Museum. Wampum and beaded medallions on a belt. Ca. 2000s
I was born in New London, raised in Groton, and have been coming to Mystic Seaport Museum since I was three. It’s always been a special place for me, so when I heard of the Museum’s internship program that was centered on the theme of Reimagining New England Histories, with the goal of including diverse narratives in the museum, I jumped at the chance to be involved. As a Native American woman, I have rarely seen this done, and I felt that this was something that I needed to be a part of. The experience has been far more impactful than I could have realized. During the internship, I had the opportunity to work with a Mystic Seaport Museum community partner, Tomaquag Museum in Exeter, Rhode Island. This museum is a Native American-run space that does not have specific ties to any one tribe. The Tomaquag Museum tells a cohesive story of the local tribes of New England. Unfortunately, due to a lack of funding and staffing, their collection hadn’t been inventoried in over 40 years. During the summer, my intern team and I were able to inventory their entire collection of belongings (The term belonging is used when describing artifacts in a collection to acknowledge personal connection of the people and communities who created and cared for them.
While doing this inventory, I was able to experience many amazing belongings. Working in a small room I got to know the beadwork intimately. Though not alive, the presence of the beaders that had stitched and worn the beadwork was still there. The beadwork has a life of its own, it opens a window into the thoughts and feelings of the beader. With every box I took off the shelves, opening and unwrapping the beadwork, I always felt my heartbeat get a little faster. While reflecting on this experience, I realized that the beaded makizin (Anishinaabek for moccasins) that I worked with were the first I had handled that were not mass-produced. While wearing protective gloves to prevent oils from my skin from getting onto the beadwork, I would run my hand over the beads softly, admiring their craftsmanship and how the beads caught the light and reflected patterns. The buckskin that these moccasins were made out of was almost always dried out from age, and the horsewoman in me wanted to use saddle soap to rehydrate them (though that would not have been a good idea). With the contribution of my research to accompany these belongings, I hope the presence of these past beaders can shine through all the brighter.
As I inventoried the belongings, I felt a strong connection to the beadwork of the northeastern coastal tribes; although I am an Anishinaabe of the White Earth reservation in Minnesota. Minnesota is referred to as the land of ten thousand lakes, and while over 5,000 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, the people have their own connection to water and waterways. My grandmother was raised by her grandparents and grew up on our reservation near Elbow Lake. Her grandparents raised her after her mother died at a young age from tuberculosis. They taught her the traditional ways of their ancestors. This included learning the language, making her a fluent speaker of Anishinaabek. (A note to the reader: Anishinaabe, Anishinaaba, and Anishinaabek are used interchangeably for the tribe depending on the region. Generally Anishinaabek is used in reference to the language). At the age of eight, her father moved her off the reservation causing her to lose much of her knowledge about our language and culture. Because of this, my mom and I did not get the chance to connect to the reservation or our heritage in the same way my grandmother was able to. My grandmother was never taught beadwork, so I was never able to learn beading from her or my mother, the traditional way of learning to bead. The year before my internship at Mystic Seaport Museum I bought an earring beading kit from another Native beader and began my own beadwork journey to connect with my Anishinaabe heritage.
During the first part of my internship, we were encouraged to go to the Educational Powwow at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center. Going to this powwow allowed me to see more contemporary beadwork that people were wearing. This is how I met a Shinnecock beader. We struck up a conversation over the beadwork that she had for sale and was working on. I am known by many to be a very shy person, but my ancestors must have given me some courage that day. Talking with her I told her about how I was learning to bead but was not very good. And she encouraged me to keep beading. Through beading, I made a new friend.
Gratefully, after the summer internship at Mystic Seaport Museum concluded, I was able to extend my work through the fall to work more with the beadwork at the Tomaquag Museum. My research was originally focused on what in the collection are Anishinaabe belongings or belongings inspired by Anishinaabe art and tools. My first step was to make a list of what I thought was or could be connected to one of these two categories. As I researched, I realized that what I knew most about and was connected to the deepest was the beadwork. In order to truly understand the difference between Anishinaabe beadwork and other tribes’ beadwork I needed to research the unique characteristics of each. The Anishinaabe are known for floral beadwork designs. As I studied and researched this beadwork, I observed that Anishinaabe traditional beadwork is fluid, circular, and flows, with lots of vines that were often made with opaque white beads. It is often stitched on black or red velvet, and occasionally on a mixture of buckskin and velvet. Flowers tend to be outlined in a different color than the flowers themselves. The petals tend to be oval in shape, and the beadwork is balanced but not mirrored and has S-curve motifs. The Anishinaabe are a woodland tribe. Though different from the woodland tribes of Connecticut and Rhode Island, the Anishinaabe share the use of floral patterns in their beadwork.
Photo by Cheyenne Morning Song Tracy, White Earth Anishinaabe. Parts from an Anishinaabe-style beaded moccasin. Tomaquag Museum collection, ca. early-mid 1900s.
Beadwork from the tribes in Connecticut and Rhode Island is different from Anishinaabe beadwork, as it incorporates wampum as well as the pan-Indian style of beading. Wampum are purple and white beads made out of the quahog (hard shell) clam. Traditionally these beads were used as gifts and to document agreements. Wampum belts are highly prized. When the Dutch arrived on Turtle Island (Turtle Island, the Native American name for North America, comes from the creation story about North America being on the back of a turtle.) they saw how prized wampum were and soon started to use it as currency, though wampum is not a currency in Native American culture. Coming into its own in the early 1900s, pan-Indian beadwork is a cohesive style that incorporates the styles of tribes across the United States in distinctive more geometric and western-themed depictions.
Photo by Cheyenne Morning Song Tracy, White Earth Anishinaabe . Broken quahog shells, ca. 2023.
Beading existed on Turtle Island long before the arrival of Europeans but this arrival marked a big change in beadwork. Before Europeans, beads were made out of seeds, animal bones, animal teeth, shells, and stones. The Anishinaabe are still renowned for the use of the natural material of porcupine quills. With European arrival came glass seed beads from Italy which brought a variety of colors to the beadwork of Native Americans. This portion of Native American beading history was discussed in Sargent, Whistler and Venetian Glass which closed on February 27. The beaded top hat embellished with wampum pictured below was on loan from the Tomaquag Museum. Also on loan was a necklace constructed from wampum and beads. These belongings are modern so color usage and style are different from older beadwork pieces. Historically, the harder the color was to achieve the more valuable the bead was. The value of beads would also change from tribe to tribe as different tribes valued different colors. But across all tribes, the color that was highly prized was sky blue as it was not something that was achievable in dyes that were available on Turtle Island.
(left) Beaded top hat by Yolanda Smith, Seaconke Wampanoag. (right) Trade bead necklace by Dan Loudfoot Simonds, Mashantucket Pequot (not recognized). Sargent, Whistler & Venetian Glass: American Artists and the Magic of Murano. Courtesy of Mystic Seaport Museum.Photo by Cheyenne Morning Song Tracy, White Earth Anishinaabe. Beaded top hat by Yolanda Smith, Seaconke Wampanoag. Top view of hat.
When I first started beading I was making earrings either fringe or powwow style. Beading anything but earrings was intimidating to me as it was so much more time and work. This feeling changed when working with the beadwork at Tomaquag. To feel them, to see them up close, I was inspired by the familiarity of these new beading techniques. Fringe requires only one needle, beads, and thread. While powwow style earrings require the two-needle method, where one thread holds the beads and the other tacks them down onto the backing every two or three beads. The two-needle method is used on larger pieces of beadwork for intricate designs. While the two-needle method sounds more complicated it is in fact just as easy as the fringe earrings. The process of making both these styles of earrings is different, but both are equally important to Native American culture. Another method, one I have yet to try, called lazy or lain stitch is used to cover a larger piece, like makizin, at a faster rate. To do this the beads are stitched down every seven to eight beads in line. There is also loom beading which requires a special loom to weave the beads into one piece. This can be used to make necklaces, bracelets, and lines of beadwork that can be attached to clothes. While there are many other styles of beadwork as well, the ones that I have studied at Tomaquag are lazy/lain stitch, two-needle, and loom beading. The different styles of beading can be overwhelming, but they each are used to achieve a different goal in a beader’s work.
Photo and beading by Cheyenne Morning Song Tracy, White Earth Anishinaabe. In progress loom-beaded belt, ca. 2022-2023 Colors inspired by Anishinaabe beading pattern from Beads To Buckskin Volume Two.
As the summer progressed, I gained more confidence. I never imagined I would attempt to stitch a larger floral beaded design. These are what many imagine when they think of Anishinabek beading. I created the floral work you see in the image for the shoulder pad of a bag for my fiance, my biggest cheerleader. As he saw me growing, he made me a larger bead loom so I could create larger beadwork. I decided I wanted to make a belt. I used a pattern from Beads To Buckskins Volume Two by Peggy Sue Henry. This pattern is in the pan-Indian style, but the colors are inspired by my Anishinabek heritage.
For a long time, I have wanted to bead a pair of makizins that belonged to my grandmother. After her passing in 2012 from cancer I was given her makizins (we both had big feet and I am the only one in the family they fit). While they were not handmade, they belonged to my grandmother and still hold a great connection to her. I think of her when I wear them. Before the work I did at Tomaquag, I was nervous about doing anything with her makizins, as I felt I didn’t know the first thing about beading them. When working with all the beautifully decorated makizins at Tomaquag it was clear, I had to learn to bead my grandmother’s makizins. After nearly a year on this challenging journey, today, when I hold the pair of moccasins from my grandmother, and I eye the blank canvas of the empty hide on top yearning for color and light … I have a feeling I might be ready.
I am so grateful for all that I was able to learn and want to say a big miigwetch (Thank you) to the staff at Mystic Seaport Museum, the staff at Tomaquag Museum, and of course my supportive fiancé.
Photo and beading by Cheyenne Morning Song Tracy,White Earth Anishinaabe. Beaded shoulder pad for a messenger bag, ca. 2022, owned by Antonio C. Pereira.
Barkwell, Lawrence J. “Characteristics of Metis Beadwork.” The Virtual Museum of Métis History and Culture, September 11, 2013. https://www.metismuseum.ca/.
Pirate Days Returns to Mystic Seaport Museum April 11–12
Mystic, Conn. (March 27, 2023) – Pirate Days, an annual springtime favorite returns to Mystic Seaport Museum on April 11–12. Children of all ages will enjoy a variety of pirate-themed activities taking place across the 19-acre campus of the Museum.
Daily activities included with admission:
10:00 am–3:00 pm: Play games on the McGraw Gallery Quadrangle.
10:00 am–4:00 pm: Dig for buried “treasure” on Australia Beach.
10:30 am & 3:00 pm: See theatrical performances on the Performance Stage.
10:30–11:30 am & 12:30–3:30 pm: Complete a pirate adventure course.
10:30 am–2:30 pm: Make pirate crafts in the Toy Boat Workshop.
11:00 am: View a cannon firing drill on Middle Wharf.
12:00 & 1:15 pm: See pirate-themed musical performances on the Performance Stage.
2:15 pm: Join a pirate parade on the Village Green!
Add-on activities include:
10:00 am–3:00 pm: Treasure hunt! Purchase your treasure hunting kit and follow the map and pirate clue decoder to find the hidden treasure. (Kits $8, free for Members)
1:00 & 3:00 pm: Enjoy the “High Seas” Planetarium Show. (Admission $8, Members $5)
Visitors can also explore the Funk Children’s Museum and the Discovery Barn, enjoy our Playscapes, see current exhibitions, watch shipwrights at work in the Henry B. du Pont Preservation Shipyard, and more!
Mystic Seaport Museum is the nation’s leading maritime Museum. Founded in 1929 to gather and preserve the rapidly disappearing artifacts of America’s seafaring past, the Museum has grown to become a national center for research and education with the mission to “inspire an enduring connection to the American maritime experience.” The Museum’s grounds cover 19 acres on the Mystic River in Mystic, CT, and include a recreated New England coastal village, a working shipyard, formal exhibit halls, and state-of-the-art artifact storage facilities. The Museum is home to more than 500 historic watercraft, including four National Historic Landmark vessels, most notably the 1841 whaleship Charles W. Morgan. For more information, please visit mysticseaport.org and follow the Museum on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.
1920’s Queer Speedboat Racer Joe Carstairs: Dubbed “The Fastest Woman on Water”
By Elizabeth Ferrara
In 1920, Joe Carstairs was racing against American Gar Wood for the Harmsworth British International Motor-boat Trophy. Joe was in the lead when, “without warning, her boat leaped into the air and plunged nose first into the water throwing both Miss Carstairs and her mechanic out …” (Summerscale, 106) Disaster and loss aside, “in her average of 64.089 miles, she made a new record for England, scoring the fastest time of any British contestant.” (Sabine 41)
Marion Barbara “Joe” Carstairs was born in London on February 1, 1900, to Frances Evelyn Bostwick and Captain Albert Carstairs. Evelyn Bostwick was from a family of Standard Oil heirs and Captain Carstairs, a Scotsman, was part of the Royal Irish Rifles. From her mother’s side, Joe inherited enough money to fund her love of boats, support her racing friends, and let her become the “Queen” of her own island when she purchased Whale Cay in the Bahamas. She usually dressed as a man, had tattooed arms, and loved machines. Throughout her ninety-three years, Joe lived a life full of thrills, adventure, and speed.
Joe’s father left the family after her parents’ divorce when she was a baby. Her mother had problems with drugs and alcohol which put a strain on their mother-daughter relationship and led to their estrangement. At age eleven, Joe was sent by her mother on an ocean liner from Southampton, England, to New York – over 3,000 miles – to attend an all-girls boarding school in Stamford, Connecticut. Joe showed her strength and resilience by not giving up or letting her mother’s temperament or judgment get in her way. In fact, her trip across the ocean is what inspired Joe to pursue a career in ambulance driving, speed boat racing, and many more adventures.
Joe sometimes stayed with her grandmother, Nellie Bostwick, in New York during holidays. In 1916, at age sixteen, with her grandmother’s permission, she left for Paris to drive an ambulance during World War I. It was with a woman in Paris that Joe had her first romantic experience. “‘I said, “My God, what a marvelous thing.” I found it a great pity I’d waited so long.” (Summerscale, 26) After WWI, Joe joined other women volunteering to relieve male drivers who drove British officers in northern France. Besides driving, the women also had to clear battlefields, supervise prisoners of war, and aid in the hospitals. In 1918, to ensure access to her inheritance, Joe married her childhood friend, Count Jacque de Pret. When her mother died in 1921, Joe got her marriage annulled due to non-consummation. Using her acquired funds, Joe and her female friends opened a women’s only garage, the “X-Garage” in London. They taxied families around London and served as limo drivers for their businessmen clientele.
Joe spent her time and money on other hobbies as well. In 1925, she used her money to commission a motorboat. Gwen, named after friend and lover Gwen Farrar, was a 17-foot, 1.5-litre hydroplane. During a test run Gwen capsized and when she resurfaced Joe renamed the boat Newg (Gwen backwards). This was just the first of many motorboats Joe Carstairs owned and raced. In 1927, Joe commissioned the same man who built Newg to build three more boats, all hydroplanes, and named them Estelle I, Estelle II, and Estelle III.
Joe had many lovers, including Hollywood actresses Greta Garbo, Tallulah Bankhead, Gwen Farrar, Marlene Dietrich, as well as Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde’s niece, Dolly Wilde. The most impactful and influential of Joe’s girlfriends was Ruth Baldwin. While on a skiing holiday in the Swiss Alps, Ruth gave Joe a leather man-doll, just over a foot tall. Joe named the doll Lord Tod Wadley and cherished him for the rest of her life. Joe and Ruth lived together in a house, bought by Joe, in Mulberry Walk, off King’s Road in Chelsea, London. “Joe mounted a plaque which read: ‘Marion Barbara Carstairs and Lord Tod Wadley.’ The plaque played with the idea that it might be more acceptable that Miss Carstairs be partnered by a fictional aristocrat than a live girl.” (Summerscale, 82) Ruth Baldwin collapsed at a party and later died in her room at Mulberry Walk on August 31, 1937.
In 1934, Joe bought an island that she had seen for sale in an American Newspaper advertisement the year before. Whale Cay, in the West Indies, is about 1,000 acres and nine miles long. Joe worked alongside others to build roadways (26 miles in all), a lighthouse, power plant, schoolhouse, church, radio station, and a museum. “The island granary, chock-full of corn and guinea corn as well as coconuts, was among the biggest in the Bahamas. Joe experimented with canning fish, with kippering the goggle (herring), and with making fertiliser from fish by-products.” (Summerscale, 130)
Joe Carstairs also dabbled in poetry, privately printing books of her work in 1940 and 1941. She published them under the pen name, Hans Jacob Berstein. In her poems, she touches on topics such as emotions, hurricanes, homosexuality, feminism, and the death of a woman, most likely about Ruth Baldwin.
In 1975, Joe sold Whale Cay for just under $1 million, due to declining health. From 1976-1990 she lived in Florida. On December 18th, 1993, Joe fell into a coma and died peacefully with Lord Tod Wadley in her arms. Joe and Wadley were cremated together. “Their ashes, with those of Ruth Baldwin, were taken from Florida to Long Island, where a memorial service was held in a Presbyterian whalers’ church.” (Summerscale, 234) The remains of the three were placed in a tomb by the sea.
Why is it important to continue telling Joe Carstairs’ life story? As a young queer person living in the 21st century, I believe it is important that people know that queer people and the LGBTQ+ community are ever present, throughout time and space. In a sport that has been and still is predominantly male dominated, it is especially important to know that there are women, past and present, that enjoy the speed and competition of racing.
You will find more information and see objects relating to Joe Carstairs by visiting the Classic Boat Museum Gallery and the Cowes Maritime Museum, both in Cowes, England. The Classic Boat Museum Gallery holds a wealth of information about Joe’s time on the Isle of Wight, including trophies, albums, press cutting books and many photographs. Archival photographs such as the two shown below can be found with many others, in the Rosenfeld Collection at the Mystic Seaport Museum. If you would like to learn more about Joe’s life, Kate Summerscale’s biography The Queen of Whale Cay: The Extraordinary Life of “Joe” Carstairs, the Fastest Woman on Water is a great read. It is on her website here.
Mystic Seaport Express Will Offer A River Shuttle Service from Downtown Mystic to Mystic Seaport Museum
Mystic, Conn. (February 27, 2023) – Mystic Seaport Museum has acquired Historic Harbor Tours of Mystic which includes its flagship vessel Mystic Express. Captain Carl Shillo has operated the passenger vessel since 2006, providing guided tours of the Mystic River.
Through this acquisition Mystic Express will be renamed Mystic Seaport Express. The 17-passenger vessel will operate from the newly refurbished dock located at the foot of the Mystic Drawbridge in front of S&P Oyster Co. The Museum plans to operate the vessel as a water shuttle transporting passengers on a continuous loop from the dock in downtown Mystic to both the north and south ends of the Museum.
This service will enable visitors from downtown to easily visit the Museum. Tickets will be available in person from a Museum attendant located at the downtown dock. The anticipated start date for this service is May 15, 2023.
The rates for the shuttle service will include admission to the Museum:
Once at the Museum, visitors will have access to our 19th-century seafaring village, world class exhibits, as well as additional amenities to get out on the water with boathouse rentals and ticketed river tours aboard the historic excursion vessel Sabino.
“Arriving at Mystic Seaport Museum by sea is a truly magical experience,” said Mystic Seaport Museum VP of operations and watercraft Chris Gasiorek. “This added shuttle service will allow local visitors to include a trip to the Museum as part of their overall Mystic experience. Downtown shopping, getting out on the water and visiting the Museum are a trifecta of Mystic experiences and we’re excited to offer this expanded service.”
Mystic Seaport Express will also be available for private group charters for up to 17 passengers. Inquiries regarding charter scheduling, booking and rates should be directed to charters@mysticseaport.org or 860-572-5341. The dock space in downtown Mystic will also be available for dock and dine rentals, and can be booked through Dockwa, the marina booking site currently used by the Museum Seaport Museum Marina.
To learn more and plan your trip on the Mystic Seaport Express, visit us online.
Mystic Seaport Museum is the nation’s leading maritime Museum. Founded in 1929 to gather and preserve the rapidly disappearing artifacts of America’s seafaring past, the Museum has grown to become a national center for research and education with the mission to “inspire an enduring connection to the American maritime experience.” The Museum’s grounds cover 19 acres on the Mystic River in Mystic, CT, and include a recreated New England coastal village, a working shipyard, formal exhibit halls, and state-of-the-art artifact storage facilities. The Museum is home to more than 500 historic watercraft, including four National Historic Landmark vessels, most notably the 1841 whaleship Charles W. Morgan. For more information, please visit mysticseaport.org and follow the Museum on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.
Mystic, Conn. (February 13, 2023) – Mystic Seaport Museum and Discovering Amistad will partner to host an invigorating moderated roundtable discussion in celebration of Black History Month. This interdisciplinary conversation will highlight Black Excellence at Sea and will include historical and contemporary Black maritime narratives.
The lecture will be held in the Masin Room of the Thompson Exhibition Building at Mystic Seaport Museum on Saturday, February 25, from 1:30 to 4:30 pm. The event will be moderated by Akeia de Barros Gomes, PhD, the Senior Curator of Maritime Social Histories at Mystic Seaport Museum, Director of the Frank C. Munson Institute of American Maritime Studies and Visiting Scholar at Brown University’s Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice.
Five Maritime Scholars will share a fascinating history and their remarkable work to reclaim and highlight Black excellence. Panelists include:
Dr. Kevin Dawson: Associate Professor of History, Interdisciplinary Humanities Graduate Group, Chair, University of California, Merced; Author of Undercurrents of Power: Aquatic Culture in the African Diaspora
Skip Finley: Journalist, Martha’s Vineyard Gazette; Author of Whaling Captains of Color: America’s First Meritocracy
Dr. Frank Mitchell: Cultural Organizer in Visual Arts and Public Humanities; Curatorial Advisor; Author of The Catalog Afrocosmologies: American Reflections, The Anthology African American Connecticut Explored, and The Culinary Study African American Food Culture
Dr. Amelia Moore: Associate Professor of Marine Affairs at the University of Rhode Island; Associate Producer of the documentary film, Decolonizing Science?
Dr. Timothy Walker: Professor of History, Executive Board: Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth; Editor of Sailing to Freedom: Maritime Dimensions of the Underground Railroad; Tagus Press Series Co-Editor: Classic Histories from the Portuguese-Speaking World in Translation
In-person space is limited, but guests are welcome to join the event virtually. To learn more and register in advance, visit here.
Mystic Seaport Museum is the nation’s leading maritime Museum. Founded in 1929 to gather and preserve the rapidly disappearing artifacts of America’s seafaring past, the Museum has grown to become a national center for research and education with the mission to “inspire an enduring connection to the American maritime experience.” The Museum’s grounds cover 19 acres on the Mystic River in Mystic, CT, and include a recreated New England coastal village, a working shipyard, formal exhibit halls, and state-of-the-art artifact storage facilities. The Museum is home to more than 500 historic watercraft, including four National Historic Landmark vessels, most notably the 1841 whaleship Charles W. Morgan. For more information, please visit mysticseaport.org and follow the Museum on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.
About Discovering Amistad
Discovering Amistad is a nonprofit educational organization that provides full-year programming on its tall ship, The Amistad, in classrooms and at historic sites of partner organizations. It enables children and adults in Conn. and the region to discover the story of the Amistad and its impact on Conn. and the nation. Importantly, the organization provides learning opportunities for children and adults to discover the relevance off the Amistad to today’s world. For more information, please visit discoveringamistad.org and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Mystic, Conn. (February 8, 2023) – Mystic Seaport Museum is happy to announce that it has been recognized by Tripadvisor as a 2022 Travelers’ Choice award winner. The award celebrates businesses that have received great traveler reviews from visitors around the globe on Tripadvisor over the last 12 months. The Museum is committed to curating exhibits, events and experiences that resonate with a diverse audience and this recognition validates the direction of efforts in this post pandemic environment.
“The greatest honor is one received by the people we serve. We are thrilled to be recognized by our visitors as a top attraction on Tripadvisor and are committed to continuing this tradition by delivering memorable and enriching experiences in the years to come,” says Museum President Peter Armstrong.
“Congratulations to the 2022 Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice Winners,” said Kanika Soni, Chief Commercial Officer at Tripadvisor. “The Travelers’ Choice Awards recognize the best in tourism and hospitality, according to those who matter most: your guests. Ranking among the Travelers’ Choice winners is always tough — but never more so than this year as we emerge from the pandemic. Whether it’s using new technology, implementing safety measures, or hiring outstanding staff, I’m impressed by the steps you’ve taken to meet travelers’ new demands. You’ve adapted brilliantly in the face of adversity.”
To see our reviews and plan your next trip to the Museum, visit here.
Mystic Seaport Museum is the nation’s leading maritime Museum. Founded in 1929 to gather and preserve the rapidly disappearing artifacts of America’s seafaring past, the Museum has grown to become a national center for research and education with the mission to “inspire an enduring connection to the American maritime experience.” The Museum’s grounds cover 19 acres on the Mystic River in Mystic, CT, and include a recreated New England coastal village, a working shipyard, formal exhibit halls, and state-of-the-art artifact storage facilities. The Museum is home to more than 500 historic watercraft, including four National Historic Landmark vessels, most notably the 1841 whaleship Charles W. Morgan. For more information, please visit mysticseaport.org and follow the Museum on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.
Mystic, Conn. (February 7, 2023) – Mystic Seaport Museum will present its 2023 America and the Sea Award to Admiral James Stavridis, USN (Ret), a decorated sailor, author, educator, and businessman contributing to the American maritime culture through his nearly four decades of service and numerous books and articles on related subjects. The prestigious award recognizes those individuals and organizations whose extraordinary achievements in the world of maritime exploration, competition, scholarship, and design best exemplify the American character.
In the early pages of his book Sea Power Admiral Stavridis speaks of his first voyage on the Pacific: “As I emerged from the dark passageway of the ship, I was simply stunned by all the sunshine, the salt air and vast ocean in front of me…The Pacific grabbed me by the throat and said quite simply, ‘You are Home’ and I have never looked back.”
Adm. Stavridis spent 37 years in the US Navy achieving the rank of 4-Star Admiral, earning over 50 medals, and spending four years as the Supreme Allied Commander at NATO. He is currently the Managing Director and Vice Chairman, Global Affairs, at the Carlyle Group. He is also Chair of the Board of the Rockefeller Foundation. In addition to attending the US Naval Academy, he received an M.A. and Ph.D. from the Fletcher School at Tufts University. He is the author of twelve books – published in over twenty languages – on leadership, character, risk, the oceans, maritime affairs, and Latin America, as well as hundreds of articles in leading journals. He also is a weekly columnist for Bloomberg Opinion and Chief International Analyst for NBC News.
Museum President Peter Armstrong said, “You are a kindred spirit with all of us at Mystic Seaport Museum who share your devotion to the maritime world. The breadth and depth of your varied accomplishments throughout your career represent the America and the Sea Award.”
Mystic Seaport Museum will recognize Adm. Stavridis by awarding him the America and the Sea Award on Wednesday, October 4, 2023. The award presentation will take place at the Metropolitan Club in New York City.
This affair is the premier fundraising event for Mystic Seaport Museum. Past recipients of the America and the Sea Award include solo circumnavigator and author Captain William Pinkney; outstanding yachtsman Terry Hutchinson; America’s Cup Hall of Famer Tom Whidden, one of the most acclaimed sailors of all time; American businesswoman and philanthropist Wendy Schmidt, whose ocean explorations have advanced our understanding of the ocean’s biodiversity and vulnerability; groundbreaking Whitbread and America’s Cup sailor Dawn Riley and Oakcliff Sailing; philanthropist and environmentalist David Rockefeller, Jr., and his Sailors for the Sea; boat designers Rod and Bob Johnstone and their company J/Boats; author and historian Nathaniel Philbrick; maritime industrialist Charles A. Robertson; America’s Cup Hall of Famer and author Gary Jobson; WoodenBoat Publications founder Jon Wilson; former Secretary of the Navy John Lehman; oceanographer and explorer Sylvia Earle; America’s Cup sailor William Koch; President and CEO of Crowley Maritime Corporation, Thomas Crowley; historian David McCullough; and the first honoree, legendary yacht designer Olin J. Stephens, II.
Mystic Seaport Museum is the nation’s leading maritime Museum. Founded in 1929 to gather and preserve the rapidly disappearing artifacts of America’s seafaring past, the Museum has grown to become a national center for research and education with the mission to “inspire an enduring connection to the American maritime experience.” The Museum’s grounds cover 19 acres on the Mystic River in Mystic, CT, and include a recreated New England coastal village, a working shipyard, formal exhibit halls, and state-of-the-art artifact storage facilities. The Museum is home to more than 500 historic watercraft, including four National Historic Landmark vessels, most notably the 1841 whaleship Charles W. Morgan. For more information, please visit mysticseaport.org and follow the Museum on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.
