That’s a question the Al Bezanson sometimes asks friends sailing on his schooner Green Dragon. He’ll get answers like “Old Ironsides,” “Mayflower II,” or “Arabella.”
Wrong! The correct answer, as Al points out, is the Gloucester schooner Ernestina-Morrissey, originally the Effie M. Morrissey, built in Essex in 1893-94. In 1995 then-Governor Bill Weld named her the official vessel of the Commonwealth.
How did this little schooner qualify over all other contenders? Through a history of international outreach and service, nobly representing the maritime heritage of Massachusetts. She performed ably in hook-and-line fishing out of Gloucester that preserved fish stocks, in two decades of scientific expeditions to the Arctic Ocean, in wartime military missions, as a vital link between Cape Verde islanders and family members who had emigrated to New Bedford, and as an at-sea schoolhouse for educating thousands of Massachusetts school children in the wonders of their ocean environment. Nearly lost time and again, she is now undergoing complete restoration.
The story is told in Chester Brigham’s book Phoenix of the Seas, to be launched with a presentation and signing at the Cape Ann Museum on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00. Chet will also be introducing the book at the Essex Shipbuilding Museum on Wednesday, June 24 at 7:30.
Those planning to attend the Cape Ann Museum launch are invited by Harold Burnham to a half-price sunset sail in Gloucester harbor in his schooner Ardelle from 6:00 to 8:00 that evening. Tickets available on the Ardelle website, schoonerardelle.com, and at Maritime Gloucester. Mention “Phoenix” when ordering
Good Morning Gloucester 