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Home arrow Maritime History arrow The Shipyard arrow Designing the Super Gundalow
Designing the Super Gundalow Print E-mail
Written by J. Dennis Robinson   

Building the Piscataqua Gundalow at Strawbery Banke in 1982 (c) Peter E. Randall on SeacoastNH.com

This was truly maritime history come alive. Modern viewers saw first hand what was once a common sight along the Piscataqua—a ship taking to the sea. The crowd roared its approval when, after a last tug, the first gundalow successfully launched in a century slid down the embankment toward the river. The crowd groaned in unison at the crunching sound of wood against wood as the heavy ship veered suddenly, crashed into the pier. and ripped out one of its sturdy pilings, then settled back peacefully in the waves.

A quarter century later, the Captain Edward H. Adams still plies the waters, but this authentic reconstruction was not designed to sail free. The original plan was to use the vessel as a floating maritime museum. It was to remain tied up to the dock across from Strawbery Banke where it was built. In recent years, the Gundalow Company, formed as a separate nonprofit agency, has been towing the Captain Edward Adams from town to town, reaching more than 10,000 visitors and school children annually. Those valuable programs will continue aboard the Captain Adams that has been towed each year along Mother Nature’s highway from Portsmouth to Newington, Durham, Stratham, Newmarket, Exeter, Dover, Kittery, York, and South Berwick.

Piscatauqa Gundalow Company

But times aren’t what they used to be. To bring passengers aboard a floating gundalow, Coast Guard regulations mandate a host of safety regulations and an onboard engine. The new gundalow, like modern reconstruction’s of historic tall ships, will be adapted to meet those Coast Guard rules.

As last week’s tall ship visit proves, people love sailing ships. Thousands of visitors fought the traffic and walked a good country mile to tour aboard the Pride of Baltimore, The Prince William and the Spirit of Bermuda. But with the exception of these rare visits, Portsmouth’s memory of the Age of Sail is fading. Unlike many of its sister seaports from Providence to Plymouth and Boston to Salem, Portsmouth has no tall ship of its own. Well publicized attempts to reconstruct the Raleigh (seen on the NH state seal) and the Ranger (made famous by John Paul Jones) and other historic ships have, so far, failed. The cost is high, many millions of dollars, but the return is great.

Right now, Portsmouth has the Captain Edward Adams, and soon, a second flat-bottomed sailing vessel that will go boldly where no gundalow has gone before. The more historic sailing ships we see along the Piscataqua, the more the memory survives. And by keeping a close eye on our rivers, this little ship will help keep our Seacoast ecosystem alive and well.

FOR MORE information and to support this project visitthe Gundalow Company web site.  Quotation from The Piscataqua Gundalow by Richard Winslow III, recently published in paperback by Peter E. Randall.

Copyright © 2007 by J. Dennis Robinson. All rights reserved. Robinson is the editor and owner of the popular regional web site SeacoastNh.com.

Captain Edward H. Adams gundalow and crew on the Piscataqua



 

Calendar
Meteors, Meteorites and Comets
May 16, 2008
CONCORD -- Planetarium Educator Bob Veilleux will explain why you can collect meteorites - but not meteors or comets. Learn about these fascinating solar system interlopers, where they come from, how you can see them, and how they are related. See and...

Lighthouse Buffet Dinner
May 16, 2008
The main event this evening will be the American Lighthouse Foundation's first “Lighthouse Trivia Challenge.” This will be a Jeopardy-style competition, complete with buzzers and sound effects. The winners of the early games will compete in a final roun...

Mother Courage
May 16 - 17, 2008
Our mainstage season wraps up in May with the Senior Youth Repertory Company production of Bertolt Brecht’s epic masterpiece Mother Courage and Her Children. Through Brecht’s stark vision, the play relentlessly questions the distinctions between war, bu...

Remembering Oney Judge
May 17, 2008
PORTSMOUTH -- In commemoration of the Bicentennial Anniversary Year that ended the legal U.S. Atlantic Slave Trade and Annual Spring Symposium From Saturday, May 17, 2008 - 9 am to 1 pm - Keynote: Cheryl LaRoche describing him life at Presid...

Books & Blooms Sale
May 17, 2008
BRENTWOOD -- Our Annual Books & Blooms Sale is scheduled for Saturday, May 17th from 9 - 11:30 am! Come to the Mary Bartlett Library, 22 Dalton Road in Brentwood, to purchase lots of books for little money - and purchase great plants at great prices. Pl...

Lighthouse Cruise
May 17, 2008
Lighthouse cruise from Portsmouth aboard the Thomas Laighton, sponsored by the Isles of Shoals Steamship Company. This cruise will leave from the Isles of Shoals Steamship Company dock at 315 Market Street in Portsmouth, across from the Sheraton Harbors...

American Lighthouse Foundation Annual Dinner
May 17, 2008
Portsmouth Elks Lodge, 500 Jones Ave., Portsmouth, NH. Buffet dinner featuring garden salad, baked stuffed haddock, chicken breast with fruit glaze, roast beef, and more. The featured speaker at the dinner will be Chris Mills, author, former lighthous...

2nd Portsmouth Peace Treaty Commemorative Concert
May 17, 2008
Seacoast Wind Ensemble presents “Peace & The Presidency: Music for Washington, Lincoln & Theodore Roosevelt” featuring Aaron Copeland's "Lincoln Portrait" narrated by Phillips Exeter Chaplain Robert Thompson. At The Music Hall. In 1905, diplo...

Free Gaelic Football Clinic
May 18, 2008
Gaelic Football is a FUN, fast moving high scoring game that incorporates the skills used in playing soccer and basketball. When- Sunday, May 18th, 2008 Where- Stevens Field-Stratham, NH Ages- 5-12-Boys & Girls Cost- FREE!! Prior Expe...

Mother Courage and Her Children
May 18, 2008
Our mainstage season wraps up in May with the Senior Youth Repertory Company production of Bertolt Brecht’s epic masterpiece Mother Courage and Her Children. Through Brecht’s stark vision, the play relentlessly questions the distinctions between war, bu...

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