Museum Piece Jerry

Mel has visited many a museum in her life. Art museums, science museums, history museums, you name it. Not only are the objects stored within fascinating to her, but the museum itself, the design process of the museum, and even the people behind its creation and curation fascinate her.  Perhaps one day they will build a museum about people who build museums! Caught up in the romantic notion of a place that exists for the lofty purposes of education and art, she has also read a number of books starring people lurking and/or trapped in museums, such as From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.  This explains why, by the time she leaves a museum, she has picked the room where she’d like to stay for a night.  So imagine her delight when Jerry seized the opportunity to…wait for it…DOCK IN A MUSEUM.

The Mystic Seaport Museum is a huge maritime museum, sprawling across several acres by the Mystic River.  It is dedicated to presenting the history of the Mystic Seaport, which was an active shipbuilding center in the 19^th century.  Because this is a living history museum, you have the opportunity to wander around a reconstructed 19^th-century village and see people demonstrating traditional maritime trades.  It is the Colonial Williamsburg of seafarers!  In addition to exhibits about past ships and shipbuilding, you can watch people use historical materials and techniques to restore old ships for display. Munching on a lobster roll in the cute shopping area of downtown Mystic, Mel realized that this visit is a perfect way to settle in to our new roles as sailors, navigators, and cruisers on the sea.

Explore with us!  First, you have to get there.  From your anchorage outside of Connecticut College, it is just a 2-hour motor up to the Mystic Seaport Marina. As you navigate the narrow and shallow channel up the Mystic river, you will pass hundreds of boats on moorings and docks.  You may observe that the ratio of sailboats to powerboats has been steadily increasing as you head North.  Observing all of the pretty boats moored in formation, you may suddenly feel as if your boat is part of a large school akin to salmon, following some instinctual call to return to where ships are born. As you pass by satisfyingly symmetrical and well-maintained Georgian-style houses, you are guided into your berth by eager-to-please and experienced dockhands, who know how to tie cleat hitches and even help with your springlines.  Imagine!

Once docked, you can roam the grounds at will, tour a number of beautiful restored boats, talk to knowledgeable tradesmen such as printers, blacksmiths, and coopers, and learn about the New England of the past, brutal whaling history and all.

One thing you did not count on was that you could be docked right next to a historical boat that museum guests can board. This can confuse some visitors, so you are asked to display a sign:

This does not however stop all of the kayakers, rowers, fishers, and boaters on the river from peering inside.  Unfortunately, Mel forgot this morning that her boat was on display and boldly walked across the aft cockpit in her flowery pajamas, hair askew, just as the passenger ship Sabino steamed past with 20 camera-toting tourists.

This inspired her to conceive of the following placard to hang off Jerry’s transom:

21st-century Sailing Catamaran, c. 2017

Fiberglass construction with balsawood core, South African-made.

This boat is a typical example of the response of boatbuilders to increasing demand for bluewater-capable sailboats with modern amenities that allow one to live aboard comfortably for weeks or years at a time.  It contains the following necessary amenities that serve as a stark contrast to the comforts available to those aboard 19^th century ships:

Diesel engines, Dyneema rigging, GPS, digital chartplotter, Flush toilets, Hot water heaters, Washer/dryer, Full-sized shower, Air fryer, Instant Pot pressure cooker, Ninja Oven, Microwave, Watermaker, Flatscreen TV, Starlink, Liferaft, Lifesling, and EPIRB.

It is notably absent of:

Whale carcasses, harpoons, hemp rope, gribbles, shipworm, and scurvy.

Sadly, it does not have a maidenhead. For now.

Link to The Mystic Seaport Museum on noforeignland.com.