Mystic seaport is up in Mystic, Connecticut. At this port harbor school is infamous for the work we get done when we head up, I have been lucky enough to get to be up there three times now and every time is unique. The first time I was working on Amistad to down rig for the winter. We got to do a lot of work aloft. Going aloft entails climbing to the top of the mast of the ship and putting rigging up and even the topmast. We also got taught the history of the ship. It being a “slave ship”. It’s not quite a slave ship because it was supposed to be under cover and was not built to keep slaves. This fact also made it not fit to hold slaves making it the first successful slave escape from a ship. The second trip was to up rig the Amistad. This trip was special because not only did we have a bunch of harbor students but also many alumni. They were a huge help with explaining how rigging is supposed to come together. (It’s a lot easy to take something apart than to put it back together.). For the third trip it was a smaller group of 6 students from ranging years that were there to work but this time it was on the Mystic Whaler. On this trip it was much more focus on getting the work done. We were up early working till sun down and everyone was taught their jobs for example one of my friends Ashley was on the netting of the jib over the water for hours tying all 26 of the shanks to the sail. This trip in my opinion was the best. It felt the most that we were less of a class and more of a working team. This trip I had a hurt wrist so I was unable to go aloft but even with this difficulty I was always at work and learning a new skill that was not only applicable in sailing but I could take into my work that I will be doing over the summer. While the trip was for our experience it was also to help these vessels get underway as soon as possible with seasons coming up fast. The reason we have been able to do three trips up is because we can get our work done and truly be a help to Amistad and Mystic Whaler. We aren’t just kids on a field trip when we are there we are an active part of the crew gaining real experience.
-John Cetinkaya
