Samples from Ernestina-Morrissey’s Waters!

Samples have come in from across Ernestina-Morrissey‘s history! From Essex, MA to Digby, NS, from Newfoundland to British Columbia and Greenland, from Mindelo, Cape Verde and of course from #HomeportNewBedford!  The most recent are posted at the top as you scroll down. ~~~ If you want to help with collecting the Ernestina-Morrissey Waters Project check the post HERE:

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Onset & Menemsha

Julius Britto and Fred Littleton

met while working on the repatriation of Ernestina in the late 1970′s and after 1982 with the Massachusetts Schooner Ernestina Commission.  It was wonderful to receive two samples from these Massachusetts waters.  Julius collected from the beach at Onset Pier to recognize the hard work of the Wareham chapter of the Friends of Ernestina and Shelley Edmundson from Martha’s Vineyard Fishermen’s Preservation Trust collected from Menemsha Harbor in honor of  Fred Littleton.

[caption id="attachment_11583" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Onset children visiting at sunset."][/caption][caption id="attachment_11588" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Peter Lambos collects water from Menemsha Harbor where Fred Littleton was Harbor Master."][/caption]

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Gloucester, MA

We received two samples from Ernestina-Morrissey‘s earliest life and her first captains! Descendants of William and Clayton Morrissey collected water just north of the Eastern Point Breakwater.  Clayt, who was with us on last fall’s sail on Adventure, sent the dedication below:

“The fishing schooner Ernestina (Effie) Morrissey launched in late January of 1894. On March 14th of 1894, she began her maiden fishing trip from her home port of Gloucester, MA, onward to the plentiful fishing grounds of the Atlantic Ocean’s Grand Banks. Crowds of Gloucesterites sent off the Morrissey along the shores and waterfronts, shouting or cheering well wishes and fair sailing, as well as a good catch and a safe return to Gloucester. The last sights that the crowds might have seen of the Morrissey would have been her proud full sails rounding the outer point of Eastern Point Breakwater, which helps protect Gloucester’s inner harbor from the ocean’s rage and waves. It is from this breakwater that my darling of a daughter, Ann, and my big, strong Grandson, Will, have collected salt water from the Atlantic Ocean on behalf of the Ernestina-Morrissey, a must-be-considered Queen of the Oceans. By the way, the Morrissey’s maiden fishing trip took four months and brought home a record catch of cod, halibut, and small species of fish. The crew and captain, William Morrissey, [and his first mate and son, 18 year old Clayton] must have been some happy to catch sight of that breakwater, knowing they were finally nearing Gloucester’s harbor after four months of fishing the Grand Banks”

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Allan Bezanson and Larry Dahlmer sent water from Smith’s Cove, Gloucester, MA.  “During the Nov. 1898 ‘Portland Breeze’ Effie Morrissey broke loose from Wonson’s and  went ashore in Smith’s Cove, Gloucester.  She had broken adrift from John F Wonson’s Wharf together with four other schooners.  The Morrissey was floated later, with little damage.”

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Iceland

The last charters Bartlett had with the Morrissey were to the US Army for missions to the far North Atlantic. During World War II (1942-1945) the Morrissey did hydrographic work and carried supplies to Arctic naval and air bases for the Army Air Corps and the Navy under joint command of Captain Bartlett and Commander Alexander Forbes, USN.  Rognvaldur Guomundsson sent us water from Reykjavik Harbour in Iceland!

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Alaska ~ Vancouver, BC ~ Seattle, WA

Ernestina-Morrissey‘s 1928 voyage to the Pacific has the MOST water samples so far for any year of her amazing history!  Working south from the Bering Strait (posted below) Tami Kellogg sent water from waters of the Gulf of Alaska which Bartlett’s “Little Morrissey” crossed, enroute to the Aleutian Islands.

Eric and Sally Kaufmann sent water from Vancouver, BC which is on the Inland Passage  from Victoria to Prince Rupert where Bartlett picked up the members of the Stoll McCracken Siberian Arctic Expedition, provisions and equipment.

Then they went a little south to Magnolia Park in Seattle, WA. where the crew stopped for repairs.

In 1928 the Morrissey had a rough voyage from the Panama Canal (scroll down to find post of that water sample) and needed repairs when she arrived in Seattle.  You can read about it in “Sails Over Ice” The shipyard on Harbor Island, Seattle where the repairs were done is now operated by  Vigor Industries. Erin Johnson along with Tami Kellogg, Brian O’Reilly and Christopher Roberts, collected water there.

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Bering Strait ~ Chuckshi Sea

Mike Dempsey from the Institute of Ocean Sciences in Sidney, British Columbia sent us water from the 2009 research cruise of the icebreaker CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier.  The water we received included a sample from Science station BCL-7 in the Chuckshi Sea and science station BRS-5 in the Bering Strait.   In 1928 Captain Bartlett chartered the Morrissey to the Stoll/McCraken expedition and traveled from New York, through the Panama Canal as far north and east as Wrangell Island. (70.98° N, 179.94 W)  Scroll down to 1928  HERE.

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Mystic, CT

Ernestina returned to New Bedford from Florida in April, 1992 (see Dodge Island post below) “but without a foundation of administrative and operational funding, program fees received during the 1992 sailing season were not enough to keep the office doors open after the fall. This time the schooner was moved to Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut for the winter of 1992/1993 and secured. “  Mary Meehan, a longtime Ernestina volunteer who visited Mystic Seaport aboard Ernestina and Captain Nicholas Alley gathered Mystic River water from the from the deck of Schooner Amistad.  Mystic Seaport Museum is home to many historic vessels, some permanently, some for occasional visits. It is the berth of L.A.Dunton, Ernestina-Morrissey‘s Essex sister.

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Dodge Island, Miami, FL

Early in 1992 after a trip disrupted by “The Perfect Storm” Ernestina was brought to  Dodge Island, Miami, Florida until plans could be made to return to New Bedford. We have received water from the southeastern coast of Florida from Stephen McAfee who learned a lot sailing on Ernestina when he  was younger.

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Merrimack River

Captain Amanda Madeira and Graham McKay collected water from the Merrimack River at Lowell’s Boat Shop.  Established in 1793, Lowell’s Boat Shop is the oldest continuously operating boat shop in the United States and is known for supplying fishing dories to the Gloucester fleet.

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Essex, MA

K.D. Dench, Executive Director of ESSEX HISTORICAL SOCIETY & SHIPBUILDING MUSEUM  & Amanda Madeira, one of Ernestina‘s captains, collected water from near Ernestina-Morrissey‘s birthplace!  Essex Shipbuilding Museum is at the site of several shipyards building schooners including James and Tarr where Effie M. Morrissey was built.

Fred Littleton, 1940 Bartlett Boy, built a scale model of the ship which he sailed in Vineyard Sound (scroll down to Fred sailing in company with Ernestina in 1990.)  The model was donated to the Essex Shipbuilding Museum.  Here it is with KD.

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New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park

Ranger Rufai Shardow collected water from Ernestina-Morrissey‘s berth at New Bedford State Pier next to Coast Guard Park.  The red lightship will be moved out this summer so the berth on the floating dock will be restored when she returns.  Ernestina-Morrissey has been a part of the park since its inclusion in the park’s legislation in 1996. Park staff look forward to co-hosting educational programs when she is back in New Bedford.

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Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound

Tally Garfield collected water from Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound. These are the home waters of Alex Forbes (Navy Commander of “The Morrissey’s WWII mission to to support the vital joint American-Canadian effort in a “Quest for a Northern Air Route” for military planes).  Ernestina anchored in outer Hadley Harbor once, and frequently at the Weepeckets and Tarpaulin Cove in the 1990’s up to 2004 when operating out of New Bedford as a sail training and environmental vessel.  Also, the home waters of Sophie Morse who served as Ernestina crew & captain in the years between 1994 and 2003.

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Clarks Cove, New Bedford, MA

The Community Boating Center has been serving the youth of #HomeportNewBedford since 1998 and partnered with the Commission when Schooner Ernestina was sailing.  We received a sample of water from Clarks Cove, the waters where their trainees develop their skills.

Here’s a LINK to that voyage.

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St. John’s, NL

The Grand Banks where Effie M. Morrissey fished are off the coast of Newfoundland. The vessel often went into Newfoundland ports for provisions.  St John’s is the capital city of Newfoundland and Labrador and its harbour is historically the center of much of Maritime history. Bartlett would go into St Johns at various times on his voyages to the Arctic starting in 1926. Newfoundlander Catherine Dempsey, a SEMA director, and her husband Jim collected water in St John’s harbor.  They reported “The weather today was windy. 55km/h and the temperature was -4° C  We felt a small Screech rum bottle was a suitable collection bottle.  It has been a pleasure to be involved in collecting water for this project.”

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Digby, NS

Greg Turner and his daughter Angela collected samples in Digby, Nova Scotia. As he explains below, he is also Bob Bartlett’s  grandnephew.

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Provincetown, MA

Annie McDowell recently sent a sample from Provincetown.  She served on the administrative staff in the office and when Ernestina was sailing, as occasional deckhand.

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New Bedford, MA

#HomeportNB ! Derek Stevens, a descendant of Captain Henrique Mendes, collected

water from a floating dock adjacent to Tonnesson Park/New Bedford State Pier. Ernestina’s berth in Homeport New Bedford for many years and where she

moored when she arrived in 1982. This was the location of the transfer of the gift from Cape Verde to Massachusetts, it was a day of great celebration, August 29, 1982. scroll down HERE. for more information.  Ernestina was berthed in this location often during her Education years until she moved to the south side of State Pier in 2004.

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Brigus, NL

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Another sample from Brigus, Newfoundland, this one from adjacent to the Bartlett Memorial.    Brigus is the hometown of Captain Robert Abram Bartlett. Graham Wakeman collected the sample from the beach that overlooks the town. You can download the video HERE. Ruth took the photos.

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Mindelo, Sao Vincente, Cabo Verde

The Institute for Cape Verdean Studies at Bridgewater University and Biosfera Cabo Verde provided a sample from Laginha Beach in Mindelo, Sao Vincente, Cabo Verde. “The City of Mindelo was the last port of repair before the Government of Cape Verde presented the ship, as a symbolic gift, to the People of the United States in 1982.”  They sent a video of the water collection. you can download.

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Panama Canal

In 1928 Captain Bartlett took the Morrissey through the Panama Canal and north through the Pacific for the McCraken/Stoll expedition.  Thank you, Tami Kellogg for making the connections and Tom Cumings for collecting the water! It is great to have the 1928 voyage represented!

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Brigus, NL

Margaret Angel, Captain Bartlett’s grand-niece, is sending water from Brigus Harbor. “Brigus is the home of Capt. Bob Bartlett.  The Morrissey always stopped there on the way north ” Her father, Jack Angel, sailed with him on 4 voyages in the 1930′s.”  There is a photo of him in the 1931 website archives. .

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Qaqortoq, Greenland

On January 28, 2022 a group of students from the Campus Kujalleq, KVU-Tourism Department, a Danish post-graduate education program in Qaqortoq, Greenland collected water for our project!  Ernestina-Morrissey sailed to Greenland many times under Captain Bartlett, in 1932 to raise a monument to Commander Peary at Cape York and during the vessel’s service in World War II.

issey ~~~

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Fisgard Light, Esquimalt Harbour, BC

In early February John Harper collected water at   48° 25.851’N; 123° 26.855’W at Fisgard Light, Esquimalt Harbour, British Columbia, Canada.  Bartlett stopped here in 1928 on the Stoll McCracken Siberian Arctic Expedition to the Aleutian Islands, Bering Strait, and Arctic under the auspices of the American Museum of Natural History.

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Fairhaven Shipyard, Fairhaven, MA

#BlackHistoryMonth ~~~ In 1948 Captain Henrique Mendes brought the then Effie M. Morrissey to New Bedford Harbor for repairs before bringing her to Cape Verde.  The boat was hauled at the Casey Shipyard in Fairhaven for some of the work.   The site now is part of Fairhaven Shipyard and is still a working shipyard.

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Fred Sterner collected a sample to represent the time in 2002 when he and the crew repaired Ernestina after flooding in Block Island Sound.  At that time the site was a DN Kelley and Sons facility.  Scroll down here for more information

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Rondout Creek,  Kingston, NY

Gregg Swanzey, Executive Director for the Ernestina Commission from 1994-2006, collected water from Rondout Creek at the Hudson River Maritime Museum in Kingston, NY, just before the water flows into the Hudson River.  The museum was the site of the first Ships to Save the Waters Conference in 1999. Ernestina was one of one of the presenting ships.  The 2021 conference was held in New Bedford.

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If you want to help with collecting the Ernestina-Morrissey Waters Project check the post HERE:

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