Dawn Riley, Oakcliff Sailing Center executive director, alerted locals in her newsletter that the two-masted schooner Virginia was berthed at the Oyster Bay Marine Center, Thursday, Aug. 14 and was worth seeing. The ship stopped off in Oyster Bay as they traveled from Norfolk, VA to New London.
The Virginia Maritime Heritage Foundation (VMHF) and Museum and their board member Steve Benjamin, formerly the owner of a sail loft business located in the Mill Pond House in Oyster Bay, invited people to tour the ship starting at 4 p.m. She was on the face dock at the Oyster Bay Marine Center. The ship is 121 feet long and painted black, so she was easy to see, berthed in the spot usually filled by Charles Dolan’s Knickerbocker.
The 157-ton vessel drew a steady stream of visitors. Riley noted, “If you are in the market for a new boat, we have just learned that she is for sale.” Funding was the problem and their fall programs scheduled to start after Aug. 10 had been canceled. The boat was a training vessel for youth, ages 13 to 17. (For additional information, please contact Will King, VMHF executive director, at 757-672-7809.)
Thursday the sky was beautiful and it was a great day for sailing. Bill Shephard, a volunteer working on the Ida May Project and visiting the Virginia said to First Mate Christine McCormick of Kirksville, MO, “In this wind she should be out sailing.”
McCormick, who received the title just three days before, laughed and said they were going to host a reception for the Oakcliff sailors that afternoon. She gave a history of the ship.
The Virginia was built in 2004 and replaced the craft built in the A.C. Brown & Son shipyard; Tottenville, Staten Island, in late 1916. The story of her history on their website explains that although at the time, the ship could have been built to use steam power, their decision was to make it a sailing vessel and would be used by the Virginia’s Pilot Association to “keep the pilots sharp sailors,” and to help train apprentices. That is what she was doing in her new incarnation. In 2014, the VMHF was working to provide more than $60,000 in scholarships while working with multiple Boys & Girls Clubs, Navy and Marine Corps JROTC units, and other youth groups from across the Commonwealth of Virginia. She was a training ship where youth could learn the skills of seamanship, build character, teamwork and leadership skills.
The original Virginia was active in WWI, and left active service at the Cape Henry pilot station in 1926; was sold in 1939 and berthed in Boston during WWII. Sold again, she was refitted in Cuba and used to carry cargo from Miami to the island, but was wrecked on a reef in Cuba on her fifth foray.
Riley said the reception “was an open house for us to welcome a pretty cool boat to Oyster Bay.” The boat has a lot to see on it, including the mast at the stern of the ship that weighs a ton and is raised using block and tackle, all manual work. There is no bowsprit on the ship instead the fore sails are tucked into the port and starboard sides of the craft. The visual here is — if you can recall seeing it in films — of sailors walking out on a cable hanging from the bowsprit over the ocean in pouring rain and on a raging sea to take down the sails.
McCormick said, “They decided this was much safer and when taking them down, we never get wet. It’s a lot safer for us and the students.”
The wheel of the ship is also positioned differently, so that it is steered from the allowing the sailor to see clear of the mast, which gives a better view of where they are heading. There are four-hour watches over the 24-hour day and the job of steering is shared by the students.
Some of the crew onboard that afternoon included the engineer Tanner Tillotson of Boston and Brian Irmanger, the cook. The ship’s captain is Hank Moseley. In total the ship was staffed by: the Captain, First Mate, Second Mate, Third Mate, Engineer, cook, three deckhands and one intern.
Upcoming Event
Executive Director Riley, artist Betsy Lawrence, and Cece Haydock, landscape architect have organized a magnificent afternoon of art and adventure on Centre Island to benefit Oakcliff, on Saturday, Sept. 13.
It is a once in a lifetime opportunity to meander through a private and beautifully restored meadow on Centre Island. Along the way discover art, both grown and created placed just for this event and enjoy light refreshments. Haydock’s practice focuses on site planning and design and consultation for sustainable design, adaptive re-use, and projects seeking LEED certification.
All art will be for sale.
Your ticket, available on their website for $100, will allow you to board a boat at about 3 p.m. at the Oyster Bay Marine Center and be ferried across the harbor. Once you land you will receive a treasure map of the grounds and the art. Use it to wander, meander, pause and enjoy for an hour or so and return to the dock where boats will be standing by to whisk you back to the mainland.
For more information please call the Oakcliff Sailing Center at 802-0368.
