History Sails into New York Harbor

I love boats. I couldn't help reading more when I saw it mentioned on TV: Godspeed, a replica of one of the ships that brought settlers to the New World. Here's a story by Bill Bleyer of Newsday:

Heading up New York Harbor toward lower Manhattan yesterday morning, the relatively small and oddly shaped sailing vessel seemed like it had emerged from a time warp as it maneuvered between ferryboats, water taxis and anchored freighters.

The Godspeed's brown-and-black hull topped by four square-rigged white sails and a British flag seemed to disappear in the low clouds and persistent drizzle. But once the three-masted bark arrived off the Statue of Liberty and was greeted by two fireboats spraying water into the air, it stood out.

Godspeed, a replica of one of the three ships that brought colonists to the first surviving American settlement at Jamestown in Virginia in 1607, docked at South Street Seaport and is there until July 6 as part of a six-city tour to show off the new craft launched in April.

The original was 88 feet long and carried 52 people. That's not much room on a four-month voyage. But they made it.