The
1956 voyage from Cape Verde to Providence was the last one
for Arnaldo Mendes. His wife wanted him home more in
Canton, MA. He arrived in 28 days with eight passengers
at the Colonial Line Pier on August15, 1956. In August
and September the crew rolled out bolts of canvas 25 feet
long to make up a new mainsail for Ernestina on
the dock at the Colonial Line Pier. The bolts were rolled
out side by side, marked and tacked with sail twine.
Sailmakers seated on boxes began with needle, palm and
beeswax to sew the bolts together and install the bolt
rope around the edge.
Valentin Lucas, who was the first mate for the voyage
over, took the Ernestina back to Cape Verde as
captain on November 8th. She carried 200 tons of general
cargo, a crew of 18 and two passengers: Maria Santos,
104, and Ludeger Mendes Rose, 67. They made it to the
Azores rather quickly, but a hurricane pushed them back
to Puerto Rico so that it took over 40 days to reach Mindelo.
Henrique Nha
Charlotta Mendes, Arnaldo Mendes and Joseph 'Sonny' Barros Cardozo
Photo from Terri Cardozo, mother of Executive Director Joseph Cardozo
Henrique Nha
Charlotta Mendes
Crew on deck for the
passage to Providence
Ernestina alongside
at India Point in Providence, RI with the Wickendon Street Bridge in the background.
Other images follow below.
|