The Wavertree returned to the South Street Seaport Museum’s Street of Ships on Sept. 24 after a $13-million, city-funded restoration in Staten Island.
BY JANEL BLADOW
Last Thursday night saw one of the most unique premieres ever to wow New York City. Dozens of fans came out greet the evening’s celeb at an exclusive cocktail party held in her honor.
And she did not disappoint. The old girl dazzled, dressed in her ribbons of colors, all freshly scrubbed and brightly painted. A star was reborn after 17-months of rehab and restoration.
Welcome home Wavertee!
The 131-year old flagship of the South Street Seaport Museum rocked in her berth at Pier 16 as content as a baby. After a$13-million bow-to-stern makeover, the old lady looked a quarter of her age.
Her decks were newly sanded, tarred and stained. Her steel rails swapped with traditional wooden ones. Her lower and ‘tween decks were removed, restored and replaced. The floors on all decks glistened. She was more than shipshape, she was a knockout.
Partiers hoisted their glasses at the Sept. 29 welcome-home bash, cheering all she symbolized — the rebirth of the seaport’s struggling museum and a salute to the history of what was once one of the world’s most important shipping ports.
The museum’s director, Captain Jonathan Boulware, proudly saluted not only his sparkling beauty but also all those who helped realize this moment. He singled Mayor Bill de Blasio, Borough President Gale Brewer, the Council and the Department of Cultural Affairs for their support, noting that the city “has never undertaken something as grand as this.”
He thanked the founders of the museum as its “lifeblood,” and singled out the foresight of one in particular — shipping magnate Jakob Isbrandtsen — who bought the battered and beaten Wavertree in 1968 for the fledgling seaport museum. The sailing ship had been dismasted in a storm off Cape Horn in 1910 and spent the next 58 years as a workhorse in South America, serving first as a floating warehouse in Chile, and then as a sand barge in Argentina. After Isbrandtsen saved the world’s last surviving wrought-iron ship from a watery grave, the Wavertree was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Longtime South Street Seaport Museum volunteers Lia Dudine, at left, and Marie Oleske are thrilled with the Wavertree’s rehab.
Capt. Boulware also acknowledged the “many volunteers who keep the light burning.”
Lia Dudine, of Bayonne, NJ, volunteered on the Wavertree for a year and half during the eight years she’s been involved with the museum.
“The experience of seeing the ship this night was more emotional that I realized,” she said.
Dudine used to “rust bust” the corroding iron hull, as well as fold and fix sails on the deck. The commitment and camaraderie of the volunteer crew stood out most in her memories of the experience.
Her friend Marie Oleske began her volunteer stint at the museum while working for the state attorney general’s office at 120 Broadway and was immediately hooked. She became a crew member not only on the Wavertree, but also on the museum’s other sailing vessels, the Ambrose and the Pioneer.
The restored Wavertree is a far cry from the rusty old lady Oleske remembers, when the lower deck was rotting away, with holes covered with sheets of plywood.
“You really had to be careful where you stepped. It was heartbreaking to see her then,” she said. “I’m awestruck over what they’ve done to her. She’s 100 times better.”
Museum guide Gabby Ricciardi showed folks around the ship during the reception. On the upper deck she pointed out two beautiful wooden staircases with brass handrails, which came from the ocean liner RMS Queen Mary.
Below deck we came across the ship’s eight remaining sails — her fore and main upper and lower topsails, three staysails, and the spanker or aftermost sail. Capt. Boulware told us those are “sufficient to sail the ship when the time comes. But much needs to be done in order to get the ship sailing — including rigging work, ‘bending on’ [that is, installation] of those sails, and of course, training and preparation of the crew, both professional and volunteer.”
Throughout the evening, guests enjoyed music by the Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra. And they supped at the raw bar — hosted by Empire Oysters — with six varieties from six states. Chef Rob McCue carefully spooned his “spirited” pearls onto the raw shellfish. Rosser Lomax, a “luxury specialist” with Jim Beam, trickled Bowore single malt Scotch whisky over the mollusks.
The cocktail reception was the first time most supporters were able to climb aboard the newly restored ship.
Jimmy Walker, a museum volunteer since 1988, marveled that this ship is still here.
“She’s a survivor,” he said. “To think her dismasting saved her. She a hard, old working girl.”
The Wavertree is open for public tours Wednesday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m., along with the lobby exhibition at 12 Fulton St. Public tours happen regularly. School groups will soon begin visiting the ship as well. For information on classes and lessons available aboard Wavertree, contact education@seany.org. Those interested in volunteering should contact volunteercoordinator@seany.org.
