Maritime Gloucester’s 39th annual event takes place Thursday, August 31, through Sunday, September 3
Massachusetts Maritime Academy (MMA) is proud to announce that the SSV Ernestina-Morrissey will take part in Maritime Gloucester’s 39th annual Gloucester Schooner Festival.
The festival takes place from Thursday, August 31, and concludes Sunday, September 3, with the schooner race. The Gloucester Schooner Festival has become a community-wide celebration of the age of sail in Gloucester Harbor. Every year schooners from all over travel to Gloucester to race and to show off their beauty and grace both under sail and as a dock-side attraction.
The SSV Ernestina-Morrissey will be open for deck tours on Saturday, September 2, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. during Maritime Heritage Day. She will also be participating on Sunday in the Mayor’s Cup Race.
The SSV Ernestina-Morrissey was built in 1894 at the James and Tarr Shipyard for the Gloucester fishing fleet. Originally a fishing vessel, over the course of her long history she sailed to within 600 miles of the North Pole and later brought immigrants to the U.S. Returned to the U.S. in 1982 as a gift from the newly independent Cape Verde, she sailed as an educational vessel until 2005. Sitting dormant for many years, after a seven-year refurbishment in Maine under the care of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, she has returned to the Commonwealth.
Massachusetts Maritime Academy will focus the efforts of the Schooner SSV Ernestina-Morrissey on undergraduate sail-training and leadership training for cadets, K-12 STEM programming, community outreach and awareness within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and beyond. These three pillars will look to ensure the legacy of SSV Ernestina-Morrissey as an educational asset for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
The SSV Ernestina-Morrissey homeport is New Bedford, MA; however, she is part of the permanent fleet of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. The National Landmark is operated by the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
For more information please visit the Gloucester Schooner Festival website at https://www.maritimegloucester.org/schooner-festival.
About Massachusetts Maritime Academy (MMA): MMA is a fully accredited, four-year, co-educational state university offering Bachelor and Master of Science degrees that are highly regarded in the worldwide maritime industry and beyond. For more than 100 years, MMA has prepared women and men for exciting and rewarding careers on land and sea. As the nation’s finest co-ed maritime college, MMA challenges students to succeed by balancing a unique regimented lifestyle with a typical four-year college environment. Located at the mouth of the scenic Cape Cod Canal, Massachusetts Maritime Academy is the ideal college to pursue the love for the ocean, concern for the environment, interest in math and science, and a thirst for adventure. Follow MMA on FB: @massmaritime, @MassMaritime.Advancement; IG: @massmaritime, @mmacademyalumni; Twitter: @MMAadmissions, @MMAcademyAlumni; YouTube: Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
