THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 7, 1996 TAG: 9606070443
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEPHEN HARRIMAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 117 lines
``Hey, you ought to see this,'' the unseen voice on the shortwave radio crackled. ``One of them old-timey sailing boats flying the British flag is coming toward Waterside.''
The Susan Constant returned to Otter Berth at Waterside on Thursday afternoon after a day that was supposed to be used to train the crew on the Chesapeake Bay but was instead spent watching bank after bank of fog reduce visibility in Hampton Roads off Sewells Point to near zero.
``This just proves the mysteries of the sea,'' said Eric Speth, the bearded master of the Susan Constant. ``I would have thought that this breeze, which is perfect for sailing, would have blown off the fog.''
But fog or no fog, the modern sailor out there somewhere watching in his powerboat was right: You ought to see this ship - and you can around noon today when the Susan Constant leads the Parade of Sail down the Elizabeth River to openthe 20th annual Harborfest.
Speth had maneuvered the little ship, with the aid of a discreetly concealed motor that is one of the many concessions to marine safety, among barges, large freighters, tankers and colliers, to give his crew of 17 - five paid regulars, the rest volunteers - more experience at handling the sails and riggings.
``There are over 90 lines that trim the sails,'' said Homer Lanier, the helmsman and gunner with a decade of experience under his belt. ``Once one of the more experienced hands shows you the ropes, you pick it up pretty quickly.''
The Susan Constant is a replica of the largest of three ships that brought the first settlers to Virginia in the spring of 1607. The Constant, along with its replica sister ships, the Godspeed and the Discovery, are permanently based at Jamestown Settlement.
The original Susan Constant was a 120-ton cargo ship captained by Christopher Newport, just 2 years old when it carried 54 of the 105 first settlers and a crew of 17 to Jamestown. The replica represents the earliest link in our nautical heritage - 389 years of it. In the beginning it was ships like these that were literally the life link between the struggling colony and civilization.
The Susan Constant will be joined in the Parade of Sail by at least five other tall ships.
The largest will bring another bit of nautical history come to our docks: the 198-foot brigantine Niagara, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's official flagship and a historically accurate recreation of a warship commanded by Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry in the War of 1812.
It wasn't Perry's original flagship in the Battle of Lake Erie, fought in September of 1813. He set out aboard the Lawrence, emblazoned with the already famous motto ``Don't give up the ship.'' Those weren't Perry's words but rather the dying orders of Capt. James Lawrence, for whom Perry's ship was named.
As it turned out, Perry did give up that ship - after it was completely disabled - and he transferred his flag to the Niagara, whereupon his little American squadron broke the British line and forced its surrender. It was then that Perry, just 28, wrote his famous report to Gen. William Henry Harrison: ``We have met the enemy and they are ours.''
Also sailing into the harbor will be the New Way and the Bill of Rights, a pair of 136-foot topsail schooners from Philadelphia; the 125-foot three-masted topsail schooner Alexandria from the Northern Virginia port on the Potomac; and the American Rover, the tour ship with the 10 rust-red sails that is a permanent fixture at Waterside. At 135 feet, the Rover is the largest three-masted topsail schooner.
You ought to see the Susan Constant, because it represents Virginia's beginnings. It will be open for free public tours all weekend - today from 3 to 6 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visitors can explore the ship and talk with historical interpreters about the 1607 voyage and 17th-century sailing, navigation and shipboard life.
I spent some time aboard the Susan Constant as it cruised Hampton Roads and the Elizabeth River, trying to imagine what it must have been like to spend more than four months aboard, most of it probably in the cramped decks below, as it made the Atlantic crossing, from London, to the Canary Islands to the West Indies and up the American coast.
The ship seems too tiny for such a venture. It is, for instance, 833 times smaller than the cruise ship Carnival Destiny, which will arrive in Hampton Roads in November as the world's largest ship (see story, page D1).
But in the context of the times, it was not. This was an average-size cargo ship. Sailing in ships such as these was actually rather commonplace for mariners. But not necessarily for the men intending to establish a colony.
For those aboard in 1607 who planned to make it a one-way trip - at least until they made a fortune by finding gold or other great riches - it was an adventure for which they could hardly have been less prepared.
As an adventure, a foolish adventure, it might be akin to climbing Mount Everest in sneakers and a down jacket, without oxygen tanks.
What these passengers planned to do was get rich and go home. They didn't even bring women along at first, so they obviously weren't thinking about successive generations.
But eventually enough did stay, permanently, to start us on our way to where we are today.
And ships like the Susan Constant were the commercial lifeline that enabled Virginia and the other colonies to grow and prosper well into the next century. It was not until the early 19th century, with the coming of the schooners like those also on display, that ships significantly changed in appearance. MEMO: See full schedules for Harborfest, Seawall Festival, and the
Boardwalk International Arts Festival in Preview, Page E7 ILLUSTRATION: WEEKEND AT WATERSIDE: PARADE OF SAIL
CANDICE C. CUSIC
The Virginian-Pilot
Five paid crew members and 12 volunteers spent Thursday handling the
sails and riggings - and waiting out a dense fog - on the Susan
Constant during preparations for today's Parade of Sail at Norfolk's
Waterside.
The Constant is a replica of a 17th-century vessel.
CANDICE C. CUSIC
The Virginian-Pilot
Volunteer Rhett Franklin helps navigate the Susan Constant through
the fog Thursday. The ship is a replica of the largest of three
ships that brought the first settlers to Virginia in the spring of
1607. by CNB