Mystic Seaport Museum: Preservation Shipyard

I recently had an adventure in the Mystic / Lyme region of Connecticut and spent about a day and a half at Mystic Seaport Museum. This is the third post in a six-part miniseries about my visit. My last two posts covered Part 1 and Part 2 of “Seaport Village”. Today’s post focuses on the “Preservation Shipyard”, where I saw the ongoing restoration of several boats along with an exhibit on the materials used to build these boats. Upcoming posts include “Galleries”, “Boats, Signs, & Shows”, and “Bonus Houses”.

L.A. Dunton Restoration

Among the most unique experiences at Mystic Seaport Museum was the ability to go inside the L.A. Dunton, a large fishing schooner currently undergoing restoration. In 1921, the L.A. Dunton was launched from Essex, MA and stayed in the businesses of fishing and freighting for about thirty years. In 1963, Mystic Seaport Museum bought the boat and has repeated restored the vessel, with work done in 1963, 1974, 1985, and 2024. Since 1993, this boat has been a National Historic Landmark. The signage surrounding the boat made sure to reference the Ship of Theseus, a vessel from Greco-Roman mythology. This boat was renovated so many times that none of the original material remained; however, it was still considered the original boat; likewise, L.A. Dunton does not have much of its original wood left.

A massive plastic tarp covered the entire boat, whose exposed frame reminded me of a ribcage. The boat could be accessed by stairs or lift. Once inside, visitors could appreciated the size of the vessel, which is over 120 feet (36.6 meters) in length, along with the amount of work needed to restore the hull. A helpful diagram hanging below deck showed what the boat was supposed to look like.

The Hays and Ros Clark Shiplift & Hobey’s Dock

With many giant boats requiring restoration, Mystic Seaport Museum needed a way to safely and efficiently get the boats out of the water. The Hays and Ros Clark Shiplift was the solution. According to a super informative sign located near the shiplift, boats are sailed onto an vertical marine elevator under the water and then lifted onto a horizontal track system that moves the vessel ashore. A computer system operates the many moving parts.

The only question not answered by the sign was, “Who were Hays and Ros Clark?” A quick search gave me the answer. Hays and Rosamond Clark were a humanitarian couple with a keen interest in oceanography who enjoyed boating and also donated to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI), where they were named Honorary Members. Hays was in the Navy during World War II and earned three military medals as a rescue diver. This story was interesting to learn, and I wish it had been included on the sign!

Nearby, Hobey’s Dock was named for a man who would have been the same age as the Clarks. Hobert Ford, Jr. was a gunner on the short-lived LST-531, one of the “land ships from tanks” mass produced during World War II. The U.S. Navy kept clear records on each of these ships, and this one was sunk during Exercise Tiger in Lyme Bay, England on April 28, 1944 after an attack by a German submarine. Many miles away in Fort Taber Park of New Bedford, MA, a tank commemorates all the soldiers who died during that training exercise.

Emma C. Berry & Boat Restoration Exhibit

A big red shed currently houses the Emma C. Berry, a fishing sloop designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994. The boat gets its name from the daughter of Captain John Henry Berry of Noank, CT who ordered the construction of the boat. The vessel operated in various capacities, from fishing boat to feighter to pleasure yacht, from 1866 to 1969 until it was donated to the museum in 1969.

When I last visited Mystic Seaport Museum about fifteen years ago, the Charles W. Morgan was undergoing restoration in the same shed. An exhibit on its restoration process lives in the second story of the building, which doubles as an observation balcony. This exhibit had a lot of interactives and artifact displays, including examples of how rope was made, different types of rope materials and their uses, handheld shipbuilding tools, short videos of the tools in use, and a puzzle showing images of the Morgan. One of my favorite features was an art installation featuring two photographs of the Morgan on either side of an accordion fold, allowing the viewer to see the old Morgan when standing on the left and the new Morgan when standing on the right. My one complaint is that the creator of the artwork was not credited on nearby signage.

The rating for this museum will appear at the end of the sixth post in the miniseries.