Day 2 of our Portraits of a Port Teacher Workshop rose up fair and balmy in Vineyard Haven. A third of our resident teachers had opted to stand dock watch last night, and all gratefully enjoyed Laurie’s pancakes and sausage breakfast first thing.

Chores moved quickly with such able hands, and then the group was off to Edgartown by bus with Traudi, Tom, and MaryHelen joining in. Our destination—the Edgartown Historical Society—proved a treasure trove of greater proportion than some had anticipated. Trip Leader Lee Heald of New Bedford’s Whaling Museum had arranged for her colleague, the knowledgeable and affable Director Matthew Stackpole, to greet us and provide a personal welcome to the museum and its prizes.

The whole morning couldn’t offer us enough time to take in all the exhibits and resources of the museum; and we headed back to the ship to set sail for New Bedford. We slipped smoothly off the dock, indulged in a fabulous lunch on deck, and raised the four lowers as we rounded West Chop and made our way into Vineyard Sound. Contrary tides and moderate breezes required that we motor through Quicks Hole, as the teachers gathered into their teams to create their stories of messages travelling across the seas.

We heard of a woman immigrating and struggling to send a message home to her family; of a fisherman surviving the sinking of a schooner only to be rescued and begin a new voyage into the arctic; of escaped slaves assisting others through messages encoded in songs—all augmented with drawings and scrimshaw sketches and lyrics to new/old songs.

A few enjoyed diving into Sail Theory and a few songs of the sea, then too quickly the afternoon sail brought us home to New Bedford State Pier for farewells.

Teacher Nancy Jordan composed this poem, with inputs from a few shipmates, to tell the tale of the voyage:

Port to Port
Island lore we’d not known before
Tobias came to tell
Tales and song were woven long
The arts he knew so well.
Moshup’s cliffs—hues colorful and bright
The Gay Head Beacon—a mariner’s light
We came, we saw, and off we went
Tired souls were we and somewhat spent
Awaiting Laurie’s luscious repast and libation
We hastened not the celebration.
On Ernestina – our proud and glorious ship
Bartlett Boys tales from Littleton’s lips did slip.
Dusk fell, voices droned; day came to an end
Aboard Ernestina dwelled many a stoutheart friend.
Day broke – we all woke – for food and chores await
This life aboard surely not one of us did hate.
The sole scrubbed bright, to Edgartown we sally
For Stackpole’s Museum delights
Of whaling and bodkins and Fresnel lens
Then back to the Haven our tour bus wends.
The sky did brighten, the winds did lighten
Lunch set upon the deck
Sophie, our Captain, sure did cry: "Cast off!
Oh, what the heck!"
Skipped port the Shennendoah did,
We’re on the sound we’re bound to sail
For New Bedford’s port we hail
The work we’ve done has sure been fun
A shame it does not last.
We’ll meet again but the shore reveals
Our kin awaiting there
Land ho, amen, we’ll meet again
Nantucket-bound we’ll be
Adieu, good-bye, alas, alack
Home stalwart sailors from the sea!

~~Nancy Jordan
Participant, Portraits of a Port II

Captain: Sophie Morse
Program Coordinator: MaryHelen Gunn