Conversations with Classic Boats

Conversations with Classic Boats is a podcast about classic boat designs and the stories behind them. Hosted by Tom Darling, his latest offering is about the iconic vessels and artifacts that are part of an upcoming show. Here’s a tease from Darling:

Mystic Seaport Museum has a storehouse of vintage watercraft stashed away in its immense brick warehouse in Mystic, CT. In addition to housing its archives of photographs and boat plans, the ex-velvet weaving mill known as the Rossie Building will be the site of a future new exhibition space for the Museum’s small watercraft collection.

But for now, Christina Brophy, the Senior VP for Curatorial Affairs, has mobilized the Seaport team to create a crowd-sourced collection of iconic vessels with stories to tell.

Mystic Seaport Museum presents “Story Boats: The Tales They Tell”, a fascinating collection of historic watercraft and the tales that go with them. From May 28 to August 14, the show presents eighteen boats and the intimate stories and adventures of the people behind them.

From Native American kayaks to the late Bruce Kirby’s own first Laser. Using the towering Thompson Exhibition Building and the Museum’s grounds, the show presents the craft with their owners and their artifacts.

Steve Callahan, author of “Adrift” about his survival of 76 days alone in an Avon life raft in the Atlantic Ocean, is an example. Steve’s McGuyver style ingenuity in navigating and subsisting is on display. Another exhibit of FDR’s knockabout “Vireo” tells the story of the former President’s persistence in sailing after being stricken by polio while vacationing on Campobello Island in New Brunswick, Canada.

The Mystic Seaport Museum invites the public to “Go hear the boats talk.”

Update: This report has been revised to reflect that Campobello Island is in New Brunswick and not Maine as previously reported.