Come Sail Away ...Aboard The Mystic

By Ellyn Santiago

The breathtaking three-masted, schooner Mystic is back in her homeport after a hiatus in New York. Since Thursday, the 170-foot gaff-rigged, square topsail vessel had four US Coast Guard inspectors onboard performing a certification of inspection which ensures the ship is legally allowed to carry passengers. A bad weather front prevents an inspection while she’s under way today (Jones said that should occur sometime next week).

“A big front coming in so not today although we could operate well even in extreme weather but that’s not the time to demonstrate that to the Coast Guard,” Captain Geoffrey Jones said only half jokingly. The Mystic is such an impressive ship; once onboard one feels at once free and grounded. This reporter mightn’t mind being a passenger when she sets sail.

And carry passengers is what Captain Jones hopes to be doing shortly. Once all inspections are completed and she’s been given the go-ahead, Jones hopes to have people lining up at Schooner Wharf for day sails ($50) or an day and overnight to Block Island and back (complete with all meals at $300 per person, double occupancy).

The ship, is getting shipshape in Bristol fashion by crew, most of whom are young people from far and wide thrilled to get the chance to crew on the stunning schooner.

Like Huey Delaney, who a reporter watched like a worried mother as he scurried up the rigging.

Or Lydia Mathewson, 24, of Rutland Vermont who learned to sail while in college; she found the crew posting online and came aboard the first if June. She’s already sailed to New York City, Newport and Block Island aboard the Mystic.

And Zach McGee, 27, of Texas who is enjoying his second year crewing for the Mystic.

The ship is owned by the Mystic Nautical Heritage Society, a non-profit whose mission, Jones said, is sail training and preservation of historic vessels. He said the Society is self-supporting and the funding comes from charter fees.