2025 Speakers’ Series

Masin Room (shore side of North Entrance building)

Friday, June 27

Friday, June 27, 10:30 a.m.

Graham McKay, the Dory Heritage Project

In 2023, Brad Dimock, Cricket Rust, Graham McKay, and Douglas Brooks formed The Dory Heritage Project, a group dedicated to recording endangered boatbuilding traditions. Their first project focused on Nova Scotia’s Milford Buchanan. The group documented every step and nuance as they worked side-by-side on a boat with Milford, the last builder of the iconic Shelburne Dory. The group published a book, titled How the Old Fella Done It, recording a tradition that was in danger of being lost forever.

Friday, June 27, 12:30 p.m.

Pieter Roos: The Wells Boat Hall at Mystic Seaport Museum

Mystic Seaport has amassed the largest collection of small watercraft in the country, with 470 boats. Starting in 2026, a 34,000-square-foot former mill space will exhibit a third of that collection, telling the stories of work and pleasure craft from 1824 through the present and of those people who designed, built, and used them. Join Pieter Roos, senior curator of the American Watercraft Collection at the new Wells Boat Hall, to hear some stories of boats and about the plans for the installation of this remarkable new center.

Friday, June 27, 2:30 p.m.

Brad Abbott, Gannon & Benjamin

Brad Abbott of Gannon & Benjamin Marine Railway, Inc., will be sharing the history of the boatyard from the early times, when Ross Gannon and Nat Benjamin had to roll their first projects up on the beach in Vineyard Haven Harbor, through the present-day operation, and what lies ahead. Brad will share the yard’s insights on the future of wooden boat building and repair and why it is so important to New England and beyond.

Saturday, June 28

Saturday, June 28, 10:30 a.m.

Eric Speth, SUSAN CONSTANT

Three small wooden ships, SUSAN CONSTANT, GODSPEED, and DISCOVERY, sailed from London in December 1606 to establish a colony that would become the first permanent English settlement in the New World—Jamestown, Virginia. Historically accurate and fully operable re-creations of the ships serve as exhibits at Jamestown Settlement Museum in Williamsburg, Virginia. They periodically sail to participate in commemorative and community events and host outreach educational programs. This illustrated lecture will describe the research, design, and construction of SUSAN CONSTANT and her current restoration at Mystic Seaport.

Saturday, June 28, 12:30 p.m.

Nick Voulgaris III, author, On the Water

The Rosenfeld Collection, which Mystic Seaport Museum acquired in 1984, includes decades of photographs by Morris Rosenfeld and his sons, who defined maritime photography in the first half of the 20th century. Nick Voulgaris III will discuss his new book, On the Water: A Century of Iconic Maritime Photography, published in 2023, which draws from the best work in the Morris archive, one of the largest collections of maritime photographs in the United States. Nick is an avid sailor and the author of Hinckley Yachts: An American Icon and Chris-Craft: An American Classic. (A book signing will follow the talk.)

Saturday, June 28, 2:30 p.m.

Roger Barnes, Dinghy cruising

The talk will introduce show visitors to dinghy cruising—exploring coastal and inland waters on small, light, and inexpensive craft. We will look at suitable boats and the simple gear and equipment required for safety and comfort. We will explore the places that can be visited in small boats and discuss their advantages compared to cruising in larger boats: their ability to reach remote and unexplored areas. With a trailerable boat, you can sail at a different place every weekend, exploring a wealth of coastlines and new inland waters. A dinghy cruiser travels light, spiritually as well as physically, and the freedom that this opens up is both precious and increasingly rare in the modern world.