Mystic Seaport Rowers Coming to New Bedford
A crew of whaleboat rowers from Mystic Seaport will be participating in this year’s Independence Day Whaleboat Races in New Bedford on July 1 and 2 during Summerfest. The crew has been traveling to New Bedford this past month to practice in Whaling City Rowing’s whaleboats.
In addition to the Mystic Seaport rowers, people ranging in age from 17 to 67 from New Bedford, Dartmouth, Acushnet, Westport, and Fairhaven are participating in this year’s races. Whaleboat races are a long-standing tradition in New Bedford. In the 1850s, a whaleboat called “The Flying Fish” won the race one year and another year a whaleboat called “Skylark” won. Two of the WCR whaleboats are named after those boats. The WCR’s third boat is named the “Herman Melville.” Melville sailed out of New Bedford harbor on the whaling ship “Acushnet” as a young man. His great novel, “Moby Dick” contains many passages describing the challenges and dangers of rowing whaleboats.
Photos by Lucy Iannotti