Galveston Historical Foundation’s Texas Seaport Museum is seeking hardy volunteers to learn the ropes on board the 1877 iron barque ELISSA and help maintain this National Historic Landmark tall ship. Sail training on ELISSA gives the participants the once in a lifetime chance to sail onboard a historic sailing ship from 1877 and literally, sail history! Don’t think you are a climber? No problem, we have needs for people of all abilities. ELISSA’s sail training is an adventure activity for people of all ages and abilities. Young and older folks alike can find camaraderie and a rewarding experience either in ELISSA’s rigging or on her decks. ELISSA is sailed and lovingly maintained by a dedicated group of volunteers that work and train year round. If you have longed to hoist a sail on a historic tall ship, now is your chance. Please join us for an introductory meeting for potential crew members scheduled for 2 pm on Saturday, July 28, 2018, at the Texas Seaport Museum on Galveston’s Pier 21, Harborside Drive between 21st and 22nd streets. Those who participate in the Seamanship Training Program have the opportunity to learn ancient skills and techniques on maintaining a square-rigged sailing ship. Volunteers may learn to climb ELISSA’s rigging to set and furl sails and maintain the intricate machinery of wood, wire, and rope. These tasks re quire skill and bravery, as the ship’s main mast towers 99 feet above the deck. After completing the classes, which take place on designated Saturdays, and con tributing the required hours of work on the ship’s upkeep, participants are eligible to take ELISSA to sea. ELISSA was originally a 19th-century British cargo ship and specialized in calling at smaller ports of the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico and twice loaded cotton at Galveston. It was this local connection, and the authenticity of her iron hull, that led Galveston Historical Foundation (GHF) to purchase the vessel, then a cut-down motorship, and undertake her restoration. Today, ELISSA is one of only three pre-20th century sailing vessels in the world that have been restored to full sailing capacity. Designated by the National Park Service as a National Historic Land mark, ELISSA was named the “Official Tall Ship of Texas” in a resolution signed by Governor Rick Perry in June 2005.
The 2018/2019 schedule is as follows:
•Class 1 – July 28 : Orientation Fun Muster
•Class 2 – August 11
•Class 3 – August 25
•Class 4 – September 1
•Class 5 – September 8 : Volunteer Appreciation Party
•Class 6 – September 22
•Class 7 – October 6
•Class 8 – October 13
• Class 9 – October 27 : Happy Belated Birthday ELISSA!
•Class 10 – November 10
•Class 11 – November 17
•Class 12 – December 1 : Dickens!
•Class 13 – December 15
•Class 14 – January 12
•Class 15 – January 26 : Chili Cook-off
•Class 16 – February 2
•Class 17 – February 16
•Class 18 – February 23
•Class 19 – March 9
•Class 20 – March 23 : Graduation
•Make Ready : March 30
•Day Sails : March 31 – April 14
For more information on joining the volunteer crew of ELISSA or to learn more about the campaign to Keep ELISSA Sailing, contact the Texas Seaport Museum at 409-763-1877. Elissa is a three-masted, iron-hulled sailing ship built in 1877 in Aberdeen, Scotland by Alexander Hall & Company. She carries nineteen sails covering over one-quarter of an acre in surface area. Tall ships are classified by the configuration of their sailing rig. In Elissa’s case, she is a ‘barque’ because she carries square and fore-and-aft sails on her fore and mainmasts, but only fore-and-aft sails on her mizzenmast. From her stern to the tip of her jibboom she measures 205 feet. Her height is 99 feet, 9 inches at the main mast and she displaces about 620 tons at her current ballast. But, she is much more than iron, wood and canvas…WHO IS ELISSA? According to the Marjorie Lyle, granddaughter of Elissa’s builder, Henry Fowler Watt, the name was taken from the epic Roman poem The Aeneid, in which the tragedy of Dido, Queen of Carthage, is the unifying theme of the first four books of that tale. Dido was originally a Phoenician princess named Elissa, who fled from Tyre to Africa and founded Carthage. Unlike some tall ships of today Elissa is not a replica, but a survivor. She was built during the decline of the “Age of Sail” to fill a niche in maritime commerce. Over her 90-year commercial history she carried a variety of cargos to ports around the world, for a succession of owners. Her working life as a freighter came to an end in Piraeus Harbor, Greece, where she was rescued from the scrap yard by a variety of ship preservationists who refused to let her die. The story of Elissa’s discovery and restoration is nothing short of miraculous, and is beautifully retold in photographs and a video presentation at the Texas Seaport Museum. Today Elissa is much more than an artifact from a bygone era. She is a fully-functional vessel that continues to sail annually during sea trials in the Gulf of Mexico. Thanks to Galveston Historical Foundation and its commitment to bring history to life, combined with the dedication of hundreds of volunteers who keep her seaworthy and train each year to sail her, Elissa and the art of 19th Century square-rigged sailing are alive and well. Elissa’s wake is over 135 years and counting…Come experience her magic at Texas Seaport Museum, Pier 21, Galveston, Texas.
