Excerpt from
Schooner Ernestina Shipmates Log Vol. 1 # 1,
Winter 1989/1990:
As Captain Dan and crew provided safe, hardy
life-experiences at sea, the Ernestina/Morrissey
Museum welcomed visitors to New Bedford from all over
the world.
Our Museum program was provided to over twenty
groups visiting us from as far as Japan, Canada and
Cleveland, Ohio. If the ship was in port, the program
included a tour. The traveling component of our
program visited cities as far west as Stamford, CT.
Many thanks to our in the field volunteer
"History Under Sail" program presenters who
provided information to groups that staff could not
possibly make.
In Ernestina/Morrisseys 95th year, we
successfully completed our transition from
restoration phase to full operations as a Sailing
School Ship. It is exciting to talk, plan and
schedule with the many groups and individuals who
want to experience 19th century Ernestina. The
interest received from all circles speaks to the
determination of the many supporters over the years
who helped Ernestina along the way.
Ernestina completed 19 extended programs ranging
from a minimum of three days to a maximum of two
weeks. It is satisfying to report that we served a
broad spectrum of socio-economic populations. This
included such diverse groups as boys from a
psychiatric boarding school, inner-city public
schools, private schools, youth-at-risk, special
educators in-service and senior-citizen agencies.
Our general public programs: "The Great
Gloucester Schooner Race Cruise," "Herman
Melville: Call Me Ishmael Cruise," "The
Southern New England Island Cruise," and
"Introduction to Day Sailing" were sold
out. Free Public Day Sails were sponsored by the
Commission for the general public and the New Bedford
Area Community Agencies.
The Commission participates in Project COACH,
(Community Organization for Alternative Court Help) a
program that allows kids to offer community service
hours to local organizations. Fifteen kids offered
between 25 and 100 hours to Ernestina.
Ernestina made another voyage back to Brigus, Newfoundland this
year with stops in Portland, ME; Digby, Nova Scotia; Lunenburg, Nova
Scotia; St. Johns, Newfoundland and Shelbourne, Nova Scotia.
An article appeared in the Standard-Times on Sunday,
August 19, 1990 by Anne Eisenmenger.
Aboard as crew were Tom Goux
and Jacek Sulanowski, shown in the fo'c's'le in the news clipping to
the right, who continue to be active with Ernestina. Today Deidre O'Regan is editor for Sea History Magazine
(shown onboard in 1990 below).
1990 Shipboard Staff
Daniel Moreland, Master
Carl Brown, Mate
Scott Jeffrey, Mate
Laurie Moon, Purser
Tom Goux, Chanteyman
Jacek Sulanowski, Chanteyman
Joseph Keenan, Steward
Lawrence Pina, Apprentice
Margaret Ann Cohn, Deckhand
Deirdre "Dee" O'Regan, Deckhand
Donald Frost, Deckhand
Ricardo Gonzales, Apprentice
Karen Merritt, Deckhand
Leonard
Brainsky donated a fabulous model to the Schooner Ernestina Commission.
An article in the New Bedford Standard-Times, October
12, 1990:
Ernestina in storage;
crew laid off, by Natalie White.
Faced with $89,000 in debts and questions about
funds, the Massachusetts Schooner Ernestina
Commission will shut its office Tuesday.
The state auditors office is also
reviewing the Ernestinas finances for the first
time in seven years, after a privately commissioned
audit last year revealed that an undetermined amount
of money cannot be accounted for.
Capt. Daniel Moreland and the schooners
crew, who hoped to make a training trip to the South
Pacific this fall, are laid off as of today. An
administrative assistant and director will stop
working Tuesday and close the commissions
office and museum at 30 Union Street.
Spokesman for the state auditors office, Zvi A.
Sesling, said the audit that is being conducted is
routine and that all agencies that receive state
money are subject to review. However, an internal
audit ordered by the commission in 1989 raised
questions about the Ernestinas finances. The
audit revealed an undetermined amount of money not
accounted for.
That audit - done by Rosenfield, Holland and
Raymond Accountants and Auditors of New Bedford -
criticized the Ernestinas bookkeeping and
accounting methods and recommended several safeguards
such as a formalized purchasing policy and strict
petty cash rules.
Capt. Daniel Moreland, who until two weeks ago
also held the title of executive director, said he
and the rest of the Ernestina staff are cooperating
fully with the state auditors.
"We ran the ship entrepreneurially. We got
it up and going and we got it a lot of
attention," said Mr. Moreland. "With what
we had to work with, weve done an amazing job.
Weve been making it happen with next to
nothing. We have just been kind of winging it, and to
a remarkable degree it has worked."
Mr. Bucar, former president of WHALE, said,
Capt. Morelands dedication to the schooner
brought the Ernestina through some very difficult
times and helped establish the Ernestina in this
community and in New England as an important historic
landmark.
"His handling of the Ernestina has been
remarkable. His love of that ship and his care - why,
that ship is his life, " Mr. Bucar said.
"He has devoted everything he has to that
ship."
Without Capt. Morelands enthusiasm for
the schooner the Ernestina project may not have been
as successful as it has been, Mr. Bucar said.
"The Ernestina on many occasions was
living from hand-to-mouth. Dan did whatever he had to
do to keep it going," he said. "There is no
doubt in my mind that whatever money went to the
Ernestina went into that ship or for some particulars
related to that ship. Right now, I would refuse to
believe otherwise."
The New Bedford Standard-Times December 18, 1990:
Ernestina wins landmark
status, by Pamela Glass
The U.S. Interior Department has listed the New
Bedford-based schooner Ernestina as a national
landmark, citing the ships unique construction
and rich history.
Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan, following the
recommendations of historians and maritime experts,
signed the designation Friday. An announcement was
made Monday by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who
had pressed for the designation.
The Ernestina was one of six other ships and 19
sites chosen for the honor, which does not bring any
direct federal aid but will enhance the ships
ability to win state, federal, and private
preservation funds.
The schooner, built in 1894 in Essex, will be
the third site in New Bedford to win the designation.
The U.S. Customs House and the citys historic
district are already national landmarks.
In his recommendation to Mr. Lujan, maritime
historian James P. Delgado cited five reasons why the
ship deserved the designation. He said the Ernestina
is the oldest surviving Grand Banks fishing schooner;
the only surviving 19th-century Essex-built fishing
schooner; one of two remaining examples of the
Fredonia-style schooner, the most famous type of
fishing boat; the only offshore example of the
Fredonia style; and one of two sailing Arctic
exploration vessels still afloat in the United
States.
Other ships winning the landmark designation
include the Potomac, Franklin Roosevelts
presidential yacht, and the bark Elissa in Galveston,
Texas, the second oldest operational sailing vessel
in the world.
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