Built in 1957, the Mayflower II is a replica of the ship that brought the Pilgrims to North America in 1620. Great Britain gave the ship to the United States as a gift of appreciation for help and cooperation during World War II.
She is maintained and exhibited by the living history museum Plimoth Plantation.
The Mayflower II arrived at Mystic Seaport Nov. 2 to start the third phase of a multi-year preservation project. Mystic Seaport shipwrights and Plimoth Plantation artisans are collaborating on the restoration, which seeks to prepare the ship for the 2020 commemoration of the Pilgrims’ arrival.
This phase of the restoration will take 30 months. The ship will not return to her berth at State Pier on the Plymouth waterfront until the project is completed in 2019.
This Mystic Seaport video offers more details about the restoration:
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Quentin Snediker is the director of Mystic Seaport’s Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard and has spent more than 40 years captaining and supervising the construction and maintenance of traditional wooden sailing vessels.
At Mystic Seaport he has led the construction of the schooner Amistad and the restoration of the Charles W. Morgan. Read our ‘Walking the Plank’ interview with him.
