Time and tide willing, Mayflower II, is sailing this morning from winter repairs at Mystic Seaport’s shipyard, back to her usual home at the State Pier in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Sailing may be an overstatement; the 1950s recreation of the ship that brought the Pilgrims to Massachusetts in 1620 will actually be pulled by a tugboat for this trip. It should arrive in Plymouth Wednesday evening after passing through the Cape Cod Canal. In June, it will celebrate the 65th anniversary of its arrival from England.
Mystic Seaport operates a full-scale historic preservation shipyard, used for maintenance of the Seaport’s own fleet and historic vessels such as Mayflower II. It also built the modern reproduction of the Amistad, the ship that was seized by its enslaved prisoners.
At Plimoth, the original Plimoth Plantation, focused entirely on the English settlers has also undergone significant change in recent years, including taking on the name of Plimoth Patuxet, and saying that Plimoth Patuxet tells the stories of the Wampanoag people and the English colonists who created a new society—in collaboration and in conflict—in the 1600s.”
