Simply (Or, Not Simply) Messing About In Boats

Jascin n. Leonardo Finger • August 17, 2015

In the Mitchell family’s time, Vestal Street was not a quiet place. A cooperage, a boat building shop, and the gaol (jail) were all located on what was originally referred to as Prison Lane. Around the corner on the corner of Main and Milk Streets was the Town building where at one time William Mitchell taught before he started his own private school. Add to that background noise – albeit no modern machinery so it was more pleasant – the likelihood of carts going up and down the street for these two shops with supplies and carting away their products, people walking by, other animals roaming free, and a person’s calash (cart) or even a horse – though in Town walking pretty much ruled.

The boatshop certainly interests me – as do all the other activities of course. The boatshop was located on the corner of Vestal and Bloom Streets. Boats were a bit of my world growing up. I spent a LOT of time on the ferry. And then, my Nana loved boats. She didn’t care if it was the Uncatena or a sport fishing boat, she just wanted to be on the water. I believe she went sport-fishing not to fish, but for the boat ride! She used to take us out on harbor cruises too – I remember being seasick quite often because she didn’t care what the weather was – she never got seasick, except once. Then there is me; no matter how long I have been on boats (since I was a year old basically), I get seasick in choppy seas and of course rough seas. Marrying a US Coast Guard officer did not change that – he can eat a bowl of chili and drink a cup of coffee in high seas (I’m talking 30 feet!). Ugh.


My world of boats expanded with my husband, Eric. He maintains and repairs quite a few sailboats – and a few power boats – here on the island. His focus has been mainly on wooden boats but he will do fiberglass as well. With a degree in naval architecture, he also designs and builds boats but he has never had the time to focus on building. Thanks to an expanded crew at his boatshop, they are starting to finally build – though his own designs remain on the computer for now. Nantucket once had a myriad of small boat shops – even building whaleships at Brant Point. Since the first half of the twentieth century, building has slowly begun to fade away on Nantucket. There are still a few people building and I am happy to say Eric is helping to grow that number with this venture.


They have started with a wooden boat that is excellent for the waters around Nantucket – a Haven 12 ½. 12 ½s were originally designed by Nathanael Herreshoff – the “Wizard of Bristol” – who is also the original designer of the Alerion which now graces Nantucket’s waters and my husband repairs and maintains. Herreshoff’s 12 ½ was a full keel boat which is not good for shallow waters. The Haven 12 ½ was designed by Joel White, a naval architect and boat builder from Maine who was also the son of author, E. B. White – yes, THAT E. B. White. The Haven is a centerboard boat – meaning it is good for shallow waters because it does not have a full keel – the centerboard acts as the deeper full keel would but can be raised and lowered at will by the sailor to keep the boat safe from running aground in shallow waters.


Eric and his crew are currently lofting the boat. After building a platform, they began the painstaking process of drawing out the lines plans of the boat on the platform – basically drawing the designer’s plan to full scale on a 16’ by 20’ wood platform. Once they have the pattern all drawn out they can then begin the process of making molds for the frames which you see here in this image.

 

What, do you say, does this have to do with Maria? Well, it’s a little piece of what she would have seen more regularly as boatshops popped up even in backyards as boat builders built whaleboats and dories and then other small craft for fishing to fill the need. She would have been able to see the whaleships being built at Brant Point and she and her father, William, certainly had a hand in whaling – William rated the chronometers for all the whaleships homeported on Nantucket (roughly ninety) and thus likely rated every chronometer on Nantucket – and those of visiting ships as well. When she was 14, Maria started that same task on her own. And, her brother, Andrew, ran away to see as a young teenager and would later serve on a ship during the Civil War. Boatbuilding is one of the oldest trades in the world and there are some on island who continue to ply this trade. It reminds one of the past. Stay tuned – I will keep you up to date from time-to-time on the building.


JNLF

Recent Posts

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger August 25, 2025
With Margaret Harwood’s growing collection of glass plates of the night skies needing better storage and Harwood in need of a warm place to work in the fall and spring, the Hinchman family gave $5,000.00 towards the construction of a study and storage area at the MMO. The MMA was able to raise the remaining $1,500.00 needed and the Astronomical Study was built in 1922 between the Observatory and Mitchell House. The Astronomical Study was built as a memorial to Eliza R. Mitchell, the Treasurer of the MMA from 1905 to 1918, and a family member. JNLF
By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger August 18, 2025
August 17{1857} Today we have been to the far-famed British museum. I carried as “open sesame” a paper given to me by Prof. Henry asking for me special attention from all societies with which the Smithsonian {is} connected . . . . The art of printing has brought us incalculable blessings, but as I looked at a neat manuscript book by Queen Elizabeth copied from another, as a present to her Father I could not help thinking that it was better than worsted work! On August 2, 1857, Maria Mitchell and the young woman she was accompanying as a chaperone, Prudence Smith, arrived in Liverpool England for their European tour. Maria Mitchell’s “open sesame” was a letter of introduction – she went with several. She would find that the doors were thrown open for America’s first woman astronomer – she was that well known in America and abroad. She would become quite close to Sir George Airy, the British Astronomer Royal, and his wife Richarda, as well as the astronomical Herschel family. JNLF
By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger August 11, 2025
After many years on the making, we are happy to officially announce the re-opening of the Maria Mitchell Vestal Street Observatory – also fondly referred to as the MMO. As you may have seen on the Maria Mitchell’s Attic bog, this has truly been more than a multi-year labor of love. Way back in 2016, we began the first steps with a structural assessment by structural engineer, John Wathne of Structures-North. That, coupled with an earlier Conservation Assessment Program grant from Heritage Preservation and supported by the Institute for Museum and Library Services that allowed the MMA to hire architectural conservator, Michael Devonshire, began us on our path to conserve the historic MMO. Grants from the Community Preservation Act and the M. S. Worthington Foundation supported the conservation work on the 1908 Observatory and its 1922 Astronomical Study. Masonry and grout were repaired, rusted iron lintels over windows and doors were replaced with steel and work was completed to the “parapets.” This sounds simple – it was not – it was a multi- year project to work with the masonry and to create a matching grout. Wayne Morris, the mason, became a fixture on Vestal Street again – as he did all the masonry conservation and work on the exterior of the Research Center. Once the MMO’s exterior was weather tight and the interior masonry work completed, the rest of the crew moved in to conserve the plaster, re-paint, and conserve the original 1922 bookcases and woodwork in the Study. Paint was removed from the dome bringing it back to its original glory. Cement floors were cleaned and treated and electrical wiring was updated and new lighting put in the Study. A major renovation was also conducted concerning the “Seminar Room” – a 1987 addition to the west of the MMO – which was completed in 2024. This was funded in large part by Mitchell family descendant and former (now honorary) MMA Board Member, Richard Wolfe. New office spaces were created for astronomy staff, updates were made to the astronomy intern workspace and meeting space, and a new accessible bathroom was completed. We also owe a huge debt of gratitude to two other board members in this work, particularly with the Seminar Room – Elizabeth Markel and John Wise. We would like to thank everyone for their roles in making this long journey a success and for doing all of this important work. Thank you does not express it well enough – they have truly all been heroes of the MMO. We are beyond grateful. THANK YOU and WOW it all looks incredible! Wayne Morris, Mason John Wathne, Structures-North Consulting Engineers Wise Construction – John Wise, Pat Marks, “Chip” and Crew Elizabeth Markel, Elizabeth Markel Interiors Ellis and Schneider Electrical Benjamin Normand, Normand Residential Design W. B. Marden Plumbing, Robert and henry Butler, Mike Gillies, and Derek Kevin Wiggin and Crew, KW HVAC INC Pen Austin, plasterer Evita Caune, Riptide Finishes Brian Connor and Crew, Brian Connor Electric Inc. Adam Zanelli and Crew, Nantucket Heritage Painting Michael Devonshire James Lydon and Sons and Daughter Michael Stefanski, Seed to Stone Landscaping Matthew Anderson and Maxx Ray Michael Gault Pioneer Cleaning Brook Meerbergen, M.A. Supply / Green Mountain Window Co. Nantucket Networks Polygon Group JNLF
Show More