The schooner Ernestina-Morrissey (formerly named Effie M. Morrissey) was built in 1894 at the James and Tarr Shipyard for the Gloucester, Mass., fishing fleet.
Under Capt. Bob Bartlett, she sailed to within 600 miles of the North Pole, and later brought immigrants to the U.S. under the power of sail.
After decades abroad, she was returned to the U.S. in 1982 as a gift from the newly independent Cape Verdean people. She sailed as an education ship in U.S. waters until 2005.
Ernestina-Morrissey is a State and National Historic Landmark, and listed in the State and National Registers of Historic Places.
The Schooner Ernestina-Morrissey Association (SEMA) was incorporated in Massachusetts on Oct. 28, 2008, with the purpose of raising funds to provide for the maintenance, equipment, manning, programming and operation of the schooner as a sail training vessel, school ship, and educational enterprise.
SEMA has pledged to raise nearly $1 million toward the $6 million reconstruction of Ernestina-Morrissey.
The ship is currently at Boothbay Harbor Shipyard undergoing a multi-year reconstruction.
To donate to the restoration cause, visit Ernestina.org/support/donate/.
To volunteer in helping to restore her, visit Ernestina.org/support/volunteer/.
You can also support the project by buying an official Ernestina T-shirt at Ernestina.org/merchandise/.
