Simply (Or, Not Simply) Messing About In Boats

Jascin n. Leonardo Finger • August 17, 2015

In the Mitchell family’s time, Vestal Street was not a quiet place. A cooperage, a boat building shop, and the gaol (jail) were all located on what was originally referred to as Prison Lane. Around the corner on the corner of Main and Milk Streets was the Town building where at one time William Mitchell taught before he started his own private school. Add to that background noise – albeit no modern machinery so it was more pleasant – the likelihood of carts going up and down the street for these two shops with supplies and carting away their products, people walking by, other animals roaming free, and a person’s calash (cart) or even a horse – though in Town walking pretty much ruled.

The boatshop certainly interests me – as do all the other activities of course. The boatshop was located on the corner of Vestal and Bloom Streets. Boats were a bit of my world growing up. I spent a LOT of time on the ferry. And then, my Nana loved boats. She didn’t care if it was the Uncatena or a sport fishing boat, she just wanted to be on the water. I believe she went sport-fishing not to fish, but for the boat ride! She used to take us out on harbor cruises too – I remember being seasick quite often because she didn’t care what the weather was – she never got seasick, except once. Then there is me; no matter how long I have been on boats (since I was a year old basically), I get seasick in choppy seas and of course rough seas. Marrying a US Coast Guard officer did not change that – he can eat a bowl of chili and drink a cup of coffee in high seas (I’m talking 30 feet!). Ugh.


My world of boats expanded with my husband, Eric. He maintains and repairs quite a few sailboats – and a few power boats – here on the island. His focus has been mainly on wooden boats but he will do fiberglass as well. With a degree in naval architecture, he also designs and builds boats but he has never had the time to focus on building. Thanks to an expanded crew at his boatshop, they are starting to finally build – though his own designs remain on the computer for now. Nantucket once had a myriad of small boat shops – even building whaleships at Brant Point. Since the first half of the twentieth century, building has slowly begun to fade away on Nantucket. There are still a few people building and I am happy to say Eric is helping to grow that number with this venture.


They have started with a wooden boat that is excellent for the waters around Nantucket – a Haven 12 ½. 12 ½s were originally designed by Nathanael Herreshoff – the “Wizard of Bristol” – who is also the original designer of the Alerion which now graces Nantucket’s waters and my husband repairs and maintains. Herreshoff’s 12 ½ was a full keel boat which is not good for shallow waters. The Haven 12 ½ was designed by Joel White, a naval architect and boat builder from Maine who was also the son of author, E. B. White – yes, THAT E. B. White. The Haven is a centerboard boat – meaning it is good for shallow waters because it does not have a full keel – the centerboard acts as the deeper full keel would but can be raised and lowered at will by the sailor to keep the boat safe from running aground in shallow waters.


Eric and his crew are currently lofting the boat. After building a platform, they began the painstaking process of drawing out the lines plans of the boat on the platform – basically drawing the designer’s plan to full scale on a 16’ by 20’ wood platform. Once they have the pattern all drawn out they can then begin the process of making molds for the frames which you see here in this image.

 

What, do you say, does this have to do with Maria? Well, it’s a little piece of what she would have seen more regularly as boatshops popped up even in backyards as boat builders built whaleboats and dories and then other small craft for fishing to fill the need. She would have been able to see the whaleships being built at Brant Point and she and her father, William, certainly had a hand in whaling – William rated the chronometers for all the whaleships homeported on Nantucket (roughly ninety) and thus likely rated every chronometer on Nantucket – and those of visiting ships as well. When she was 14, Maria started that same task on her own. And, her brother, Andrew, ran away to see as a young teenager and would later serve on a ship during the Civil War. Boatbuilding is one of the oldest trades in the world and there are some on island who continue to ply this trade. It reminds one of the past. Stay tuned – I will keep you up to date from time-to-time on the building.


JNLF

Recent Posts

Raise The Roof!

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • April 6, 2026
Well, actually replace the roof! With funding from the Community Preservation Act and the work of Lydon and Sons, Inc. the Mitchell House is getting a new roof. The current one had come to the end of its useful life. A cedar roof can last a long time – longer than asphalt – and is more historically accurate. The roof we are removing was installed in about 1992 – replacing a roof from the 1930s that was not cedar but a combination of materials that actually yes, did last sixty years. The unfortunate issue has arisen that the roofwalk (walk) has to be replaced. This is NOT the original walk – nor that old of a walk. It’s likely from the 1970s or so and has been cobbled at over time. It’s not a functioning walk – no one is allowed on it – but the Mitchell House needs it none the less. Maria Mitchell and her father, William, likely used the walk for astronomical observations – in addition to the yard – but the walk is also protected as part of the preservation easement on the House. Walks – NOT and NEVER called widow’s walks – were used for preventing and putting out chimney fire and roof fires. In a place where wood was expensive and had to be brought from “the main” these were purely utilitarian. What good Quaker (or non-Quaker) would build a platform for his wife to stare out to the harbor to see if her husband was on his way home? The other issue is that the walk was completely resting on the ridge board – and actually was notched to accept the pitch and tip of the ridge board so they couldn’t work around it. I suspect this may have been the ways walks were once built – and also a crafty and smart thinking carpenter who came up with the idea. It makes the walk lower. But between that issue and the age of the walk and then the blizzard of February 2026 that packed gusts over 83 MPH (that’s Category 1 hurricane winds) the walk gave in. Balusters had been knocked out and the railings were loose and pulling away from the posts. So, we will also be working with Barber and Sons to create a new roofwalk – and they agreed to do this for us quickly which is also no small feat given how busy everyone is these days. So from the bottom of the Mitchell House’s heart (and mine) a big thank you to Chris Lydon and Lydon and Sons and crew, Barber and Sons / Beau and Nate Barber, the Community Preservation Committee, and Nantucket Preservation Trust (our easement holder)! JNLF

Maria Mitchell In Her Own Words

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • March 30, 2026
1882. Mch.13.3 p.m. I start for Faculty. As I sit, I feel as well as I ever did in my life; I go to Faculty and we probably shall elect what we called the “honor” girls. I dread the struggle that is pretty certain to come . . .The whole system is demoralizing and foolish. Girls study for “prizes” and not for learning when “honors” are at the end. The unscholarly motive is wearing. Maria Mitchell once said, “You cannot mark the human mind because there is no intellectual unit.” She did not like grades or prizes as you can see by her words above. I have to agree. Whether it be in academics or sports or some other activity, you should be rewarded in what you learn and how well you do – not to achieve a prize at the end. It’s the same idea with giving prizes to everyone so no one feels left out – just don’t do it. Learn how to lose gracefully.  JNLF

Women’s History Month

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • March 23, 2026
March is Women’s History Month – though all months should be women’s history month! Maria Mitchell was one of the founders of the Association for the Advancement of Women (AAW), was its president for a term (1875), and founded its Science Committee which she chaired for the remainder of her life. When the fourth Congress of the AAW met in Philadelphia in October 1876, Julia Ward Howe (also a friend of Maria’s) was serving with Maria on the executive committee. Maria presented a paper, “The Need for Women in Science.” In it she stated, Does anyone suppose that any woman in all the ages has had a fair chance to show what she could do in science? . . . The laws of nature are not discovered by accidents; theories do not come by chance, even to the greatest minds; they are not born of the hurry and worry of daily toil; they are diligently sought, they are patiently waited for, they are received with cautious reserve, they are accepted with reverence and awe. And until able women have given their lives to investigation, it is idle to discuss the question of their capacity for original work. She is not saying that women cannot be scientists – she is saying they need to be given the opportunities. Maria was incredibly busy with the AAW – it took up a great deal of her time – and at the next meeting in November of that year some aspects of the meeting were wonderful according to her account –“excellent” papers, “newspapers treated us very well. The institutions opened their doors to us, the Centennial gave us a reception. But – we didn’t have a good time!” It appears there was discord among the women. A few opposed the subject of “Woman Suffrage,” but Lucy Stone was able to present her paper on the subject despite this. And, some women felt that the West was not well represented and was overshadowed by New England, thus women representing the western states protested the nomination and election of Julia Ward Howe as president of the AAW. But she won. Whew! It was not always easy and controversies constantly abounded with many schisms over time within the women’s rights movement. I often wonder what Maria might think of the place of women today – how far things have come from her time or would she be surprised that there still is inequality? What would she think? In honor of Women’s History Month, visit the National Women’s History Alliance, the National Women’s History Museum, and the National Collaborative of Women’s History Sites. These places will also point you in the directions of women’s history sites across the country and how to find out more information about all these women who paved the way for us!  JNLF
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