Mayflower is Facing the Summer Crowds

On the evening of June 28, we turned the reproduction ship Mayflower II around at her berth on the state pier in Plymouth harbor. With the aid of about 20 volunteers and our work boat Mayflower was slowly turned from her winter position of face out to sea to the summer position of the bow of the ship facing the land.

We turn the ship for several reasons. First, it allows for the ship that essentially spends all her time tied to the pier, to weather evenly. The second reason has to do with traffic flow on the ship. In the spring we have many school groups coming to visit. It is best to give these groups a solid orientation to the ship and this can best be accomplished when the whole group is gathered on the half-deck. This is the deck you arrive at first when the ship is facing out toward the sea. In the summer when the bow of the ship is facing in the first deck on which you arrive when boarding is the main deck. Vacationing families, the majority of our visitors in the summer are less interested in a formal introduction and more interested in exploring the ship.

We will turn the ship back around sometime in the fall so that once again the bow is facing out toward the ocean, all the better to weather the winter storms that blow in from the east.