The Ocean Way

- Alex Oliveira

WHEN PURITAN SETTLERS first eked their way across the Atlantic and onto the shores of Cape Cod four hundred years ago, the identity of New England became inextricably bound to the sea. Cod, tuna and swordfish boats sailed out from Gloucester while whaleboats fanned out across the globe from Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. In Boston proper the commerce of these ships was processed, sold and shipped, while the boatyards of New Bedford, and Rhode Island churned out the vessels that carried crews of New Englanders throughout the world.

Though the Cod has dried up, the whale-oil lamps have been snuffed out by electricity, and the boatyards of Bristol make their mark with fiberglass molds, the classic vessels that once dominated Boston’s maritime world can still be found and experienced throughout New England.Both on and off the water, here are some of the best ways to relive the heyday of Boston’s ocean bound history.

HERRESHOFF MARINE MUSEUM & MIT MUSEUM 

In 1870, a young man from the shipbuilding hub of Bristol, RI, graduated from MIT with a degree in mechanical engineering. His name was Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, and within 20 years he would be designing and building the fastest boats in the world. Herreshoff’s early years were devoted to steam powered vessels, designing and producing first-of-their-kind iron torpedo boats for the US Navy; as the turn of the century approached, he shifted his growing resources to the production of innovative sailing yachts.