Mayflower II in Mystic
The original Mayflower brought the Pilgrims to New England in 1620. Her replica, Mayflower II, was launched in England in 1956 and voyaged across the Atlantic under command of the great sailorman Alan Villiers, himself a human bridge between the days of square-rigged sailing ships and the modern day.
Above, Mayflower II was relaunched on September 7, 2019, after a three-year refit at Mystic Seaport. (Doug Logan photo)
Since then, Mayflower II has been kept and cared for by Plimouth Plantation. When it came time for a major refit, Plimouth partnered with Mystic Seaport in Connecticut. Mystic had the facilities and skilled shipwrights to take on this massive task, and three years later, on September 7, 2019, Mayflower II was lowered slowly down the ways into the water again.
The keynote speaker at the relaunching ceremony was Nathaniel Philbrick, bestselling maritime author, who published a lively history of the Mayflower in 2006. Here's an excerpt from Philbrick's address:
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