Mystic Seaport Museum or Mystic Seaport: The Museum of America and the Sea in Mystic, Connecticut is the largest maritime museum in the United States. It is notable for its collection of sailing ships and boats and for the re-creation of the crafts and fabric of an entire 19th-century seafaring village. It consists of more than 60 historic buildings, most of them rare commercial structures moved to the 19-acre (0.077 km2) site and meticulously restored.
Joseph Conrad is an iron-hulled sailing ship, originally launched as Georg Stage in 1882 and used to train sailors in Denmark. After sailing around the world as a private yacht in 1934 she served as a training ship in the United States, and is now a museum ship at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut.
Sharpies are a type of hard chined sailboat with a flat bottom, extremely shallow draft, centreboards and straight, flaring sides. They are believed to have originated in the New Haven, Connecticut region of Long Island Sound, United States. They were traditional fishing boats used for oystering, and later appeared in other areas. With centerboards and shallow balanced rudders they are well suited to sailing in shallow tidal waters.
The Mystic River is a 3.4-mile-long (5.5 km) estuary in the southeast corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. Its main tributary is Whitford Brook. It empties into Fishers Island Sound, dividing the village of Mystic, Connecticut between the towns of Groton and Stonington. Much of the river is tidal. The Mystic River was the location of three large shipbuilding firms during the 19th-century, and it is now the home of the Mystic Seaport maritime museum. The name Mystic is derived from the Pequot term "missi-tuk", describing a large river whose waters are driven into waves by tides or wind, according to the Mystic River Historical Society.
The Norwalk Oyster Festival is an annual fair in the city of Norwalk, Connecticut, United States, held on the first weekend after Labor Day in Veterans Park, near Long Island Sound.
The skipjack is a traditional fishing boat used on the Chesapeake Bay for oyster dredging. It is a sailboat which succeeded the bugeye as the chief oystering boat on the bay, and it remains in service due to laws restricting the use of powerboats in the Maryland state oyster fishery.
A sandbagger sloop is a type of sailboat made popular in the 19th century as a work vessel which also could be used as a pleasure craft. They are a descendant of shoal-draft sloops used in oyster fishing in the shallow waters of New York Bay The term "sandbagger" refers to the use of sandbags to shift the boat's center of gravity in order to obtain the most power from the sails. In practice, the sandbags were actually filled with gravel in order to keep them from retaining excessive amounts of water.
La Amistad was a 19th-century two-masted schooner, owned by a Spaniard colonizing Cuba. It became renowned in July 1839 for a slave revolt by Mende captives, who had been captured and sold to European slave traders, and illegally transported by a Portuguese ship from West Africa to Cuba in violation of existing European treaties against the Atlantic slave trade. Two Spanish plantation owners, Don José Ruiz and Don Pedro Montes, bought 53 captives, including four children, in Havana, Cuba, and were transporting them on the ship to their plantations near Puerto Príncipe. The revolt began after the schooner's cook jokingly told the slaves that they were to be "killed, salted, and cooked." Sengbe Pieh, a Mende man, also known as Joseph Cinqué, unshackled himself and the others on the third day and started the revolt. They took control of the ship, killing the captain and the cook. In the melee, three Africans were also killed.
Charles Drown Mower (1875-1942) of New York was a noted yacht designer and author, and was at one time design editor of the Rudder magazine and a contributing author to Motor Boating magazine.
Christeen is the oldest oyster sloop in the United States and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1992.
Priscilla is a classic oyster dredging sloop and museum ship at the Long Island Maritime Museum. Built in 1888, it is the oldest surviving boat from the Great South Bay oyster fleet, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006. It is berthed near the Modesty, another National Historic Landmark sloop.
Emma C. Berry is a fishing sloop located at the Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut, United States, and one of the oldest surviving commercial vessels in America. She is the last known surviving American well smack. This type of boat is also termed a sloop smack or Noank smack. The Noank design was imitated in other regions of the United States.
Australia is a coasting schooner located at Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Connecticut, United States. Australia was built in 1862 in Great South Bay, Long Island, New York and was originally named Alma. Australia was designed to carry freight and to be able to traverse shallow water. Australia was used as a Confederate blockade runner during the American Civil War until she was captured by Union warships and sold at auction. Mystic Seaport acquired her in 1951 for use as a training vessel. In 1962 Australia was hauled out for restoration but damage to the hull was deemed too extensive and the vessel was permanently beached. Australia is now housed in a shed and used as an exhibit on ship construction.
Florence is a western rig dragger located at Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Connecticut, United States. Florence was built in 1926 by Franklin G. Post along the Mystic River and was used as a dragger in Long Island Sound. In 1982 Florence was acquired by Mystic Seaport and completely restored to her original configuration. Florence is the only working dragger in a museum collection. Florence is now used to carry students to collect marine biology specimens from Fishers Island Sound.
Annie is a Sandbagger sloop located at Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Connecticut, United States. Built in 1880 in Mystic by David O. Richmond, Annie was built for Henry H. Tift and was used for competitive racing. Annie was donated to Mystic Seaport in 1931 and was the first vessel in their collection of watercraft. In 2004 she underwent an extensive restoration to return her to her original configuration.
Gerda III is a lighthouse tender located at Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Connecticut, United States. Gerda III was built in 1928 in Denmark and was used as a common work boat. In 1943 Gerda III was used by 19-year old Henny Sinding to smuggle Jews from Nazi occupied Denmark to Sweden. Approximately 300 Jews were rescued by Gerda III. The Danish Parliament donated Gerda III to The Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City. Mystic Seaport now cares for the vessel and features her as part of their collection of watercraft. The rescue story is the subject of the 1991 film A Day in October.
Brilliant is a schooner located at Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Connecticut, United States. Brilliant was built in 1932 on City Island, Bronx, by Henry B. Nevins Yard to a design by Olin Stephens of Sparkman & Stephens for Walter Barnum. Brilliant was built as an ocean racing yacht, and on her maiden voyage crossed the Atlantic Ocean in just over 15 days, 1 hour and 23 minutes, a record for a sailing yacht of her size. Brilliant ran from Nantucket Lightship to Bishop Rock Light, England.
Roann is an Eastern rig dragger located at Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Connecticut, United States. Roann was built in 1947 in Thomaston, Maine by Newbert & Wallace and was used to fish for flounder, cod, and haddock. Mystic Seaport acquired the vessel to add to their collection of watercraft after she became obsolete in the 1970s. In 2009, Roann underwent a complete restoration.
John Gardner (1905–1995) born in Calais, Maine, USA; was a historian of water craft, a writer, a labor organizer, and a designer and builder of wooden boats.
Hope is an oyster sloop that was completed in 1948. It is believed to be the last sail-powered oystering vessel built on the Long Island Sound. Hope is 56 feet (17 m) long, including the bowsprit, and 42 feet 2 inches (12.9 m) at the waterline. Its beam is 15 feet 2 inches (4.6 m), and it draws 4 feet 9 inches (1.4 m) with the centerboard up. Hope is gaff rigged, 'V'-bottomed and has an 850-pound (390 kg) centerboard. Hope's shallow draft facilitated shoal water work.
United States 
