Off to Sea

Note, 9-24-15: This post originally appeared on June 12, 2014, but it was recently and inexplicably deleted from my blog. Thanks to the foresight of folks at Mystic Seaport, I'm reposting it based on an archived copy. This may lead to slight formatting errors.


I'm heading off for Mystic Seaport tomorrow for my leg of the 38th Voyage of the Charles W. Morgan. She's currently anchored in New London, Connecticut, and by this time tomorrow, I should be comfortably ensconced in one of the berths in the fo'c's'le. On Saturday, we'll sail from New London east along the coast to Newport, Rhode Island. During this time, I'll be observing how the crew moves around the ship and talking to them about how their clothing choices combine fashion with function. If it's rainy, I might even get a chance to try out my own new rain gear, a recent gift from Nicole (more on that later). Being on board the ship under sail will give me plenty to think about as I work to reproduce nineteenth-century maritime raingear later this summer.

The Charles W. Morgan under sail, June 7, 2014, from here.

The Morgan has been out for her first trials under sail over the past few days, and the New London-Newport cruise will be the first leg in a journey that will take her up to Boston and back to Mystic over the course of the summer. You can follow the Morgan's voyage over the course of the summer using this cool chart. I'll have much more to share when I get back.