Ernestina: Oyster Festival 1999 Flagship

Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce Oyster Fest October 16, 17

By Dagmar Fors Karppi

The schooner Ernestina is coming to Oyster Bay to celebrate at Oyster Festival 1999. She will be in port Friday, Oct. 15, 16 and 17, with arrival and departure times to be set depending on the tides. The Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce presents the festival sponsored by Newsday.

During the two day festival there will be educational tours on board. The ship will be docked at the Oyster Bay Marine Center where festival goers can easily visit.

Kathy Wilson, festival promoter is looking for a sponsor for the Ernestina to cover the cost of her trip. They will get in exchange, among other things, the opportunity to hold a VIP reception for 60 guests on board the vessel. Their banner will fly high over the boat as they step back in history aboard the 105-year-old ship.

The ship is used to advance the learning in math, science and the environment in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts State Science Fair winners and their families will get a chance to sail aboard the schooner Ernestina on May 19 and 21 as do the winners of the Envirothon.

The staff of the Ernestina works with their local schools to create many educational programs including a kit to build a model of the ship; a coloring book for the third grade and an appearance on Arthur episode #315.

Sailing History

The 104-year-old Grand Banks fisherman, Arctic explorer and Cape Verdean emigration packet, the Ernestina-ex-Effie M. Morrissey was built at the James and Tarr Yard in Essex, Massachusetts and launched Feb. 1, 1894. She is one of six remaining Essex built schooners. The Ernestina has hundreds of stories to tell. She has been an Arctic explorer and reached within 600 miles of the North Pole and is the last ship to bring immigrants to this country from the Cape Verde Islands. She was given to the people of the United States by the people of Cape Verde Islands in 1982. She is the official vessel of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Ernestina is 156 ft. overall and is 25 ft. 6" in breadth. She began life a hundred years ago as Captain John McInnis sailed the Effie M. Morrissey to Newfoundland for the winter herring season of 1898-1899. Her cargo was sold to New York and she was sailed there by Rod McIntosh. Seventy-five years ago Harold Bartlett of Brigus, Newfoundland purchased the Effie M. Morrissey in 1914 from Nova Scotian owners. He owned her for about 10 years before selling her to his first cousin, Robert A. Bartlett in 1925. In 1924, the Effie M. Morrissey was laying neglected in Halifax Harbor. In 1928 the ship was pulled over by the US Coast Guard from Wood's Hole while on a trip from Cape Breton to City Island, NY en route to the Pacific, under suspicion of rum running. Of course there was no rum aboard and in short time the vessel was released.

Fifty Years Ago: Ernestina

Fifty years ago she came into New Bedford, MA, nearly a year after she had left New Bedford, for the Cape Verdean Islands with a cargo of clothing and food for island residents. She came back as the Ernestina, after her name was changed while carrying on inter-island trade. The new owner was Henrique Mendes of New Bedford and the Cape Verde Islands. On board were a cargo of 12 casks of tobacco and five passengers who claimed US citizenship. The Ernestina was fitted for the packet trade, and traveled only by sail. About 25 years ago Alberto Lopes spent 807,500 escudos to repair the bottom of the Ernestina. A great deal of her frames, keel sections and hull timber were renewed and the hull sheathed with aluminum sheeting below the waterline. Alberto Lizardo became the master of the ship in 1974, when the vessel was called "in good condition" and "well fitted out for trading between the islands of the Cape Verde group." However, her sails and rigging were in poor condition and there was a leak around the propeller shaft. She became used less and less as an inter-island packet ship. In the late nineteen sixties interest arose in the United States to save the historic vessel. Today the ship is used for educational programs for schools and is on-line at http://www.ernestina.org/ If you would like more information about the festival you can call Kathy Wilson at 922-6464 or e-mail her at: Director@OysterBay.org Chamber President Karen DeVine-Minicozzi, director/owner of the Francis P. DeVine Funeral Home Inc. is chairing the Oyster Festival for the second time. Her co-chair is Scott Davis of Oyster Bay Dodge.

Speaker at Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce Meeting April 8

Upstairs Downstairs is the title of a talk by Andrew Batten, director of Raynham Hall Museum. He will be the guest of the Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce at their April 8 meeting at The Homestead Restaurant at 6:15 p.m.

Mr. Batten's talk will focus on the behind-the-scene look at the lives of servants in Raynham Hall and other places. Their contributions have often gone unnoticed but the museum is restoring the service area in the Victorian wing of the house to open it up to the public.

"The work began on Thursday, March 25, as the town workers arrived to patch the plaster on the walls in the kitchen wing," said Mr. Batten. The actual living quarters of the servants, on the second floor, is being used as office space in the restored north wing of the house.

"So often we forget how rich in history our hamlet is. This is a perfect opportunity for you to become a 'tourist' in your own town and learn more about the fascinating world of Raynham Hall," said Kathy Wilson, executive director of the Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce.

The cost for the dinner is $17. Please call 922-6464 for reservations. All are welcome to attend.