FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 16, 2008
CONTACT: Molly Dannenmaier
Director of Marketing and Public Relations,
409-765-7834
molly.dannenmaier@galvestonhistory.org

1877 Tall Ship Elissa Crew Leaders to Offer One-Day “Marlinspike” Seamanship Training Experience

On Saturday, June 21 at 1:30 p.m., leaders of the 1877 Tall Ship Elissa crew will offer a hands-on, Marlinspike Seamanship class. The class costs $15, is open to the public, and includes admission to the Texas Seaport Museum and Elissa, the Official Tall Ship of Texas.

"The class will offer participants the opportunity to learn whippings, rope splicing, service repair, introduction to wire splicing and other traditional rigging skills. Those who attend will have the opportunity to learn more about volunteering opportunities and the Elissa Seamanship Training program, where volunteers learn how to sail Elissa and become a part of her crew.

Elissa crew members learn skills and even a vocabulary passed down from the days of the fictional Caribbean pirate, Jack Sparrow. Elissa was never a pirate ship, but as a British cargo ship of the 19th century, she specialized in calling at smaller ports of the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. She twice loaded cotton at Galveston. It was this local connection, and the authenticity of her iron hull, that led Galveston Historical Foundation to purchase the vessel, then a cut-down motorship, and undertake her restoration. Today, Elissa is one of only three pre-20th century sailing vessels in the United States that have been restored to full sailing capacity. “Volunteers were critical to the initial restoration effort,” says Dwayne Jones, executive director of Galveston Historical Foundation, “and they have remained essential to her continuing life over the last 25 years.”

Elissa has been designated by the National Park Service as a National Historic Landmark. She was named the “Official Tall Ship of Texas” in a resolution signed by Governor Rick Perry in June, 2005.

For more information on the volunteer crew of Elissa, contact the Texas Seaport Museum at 409-763-1877 or visit www.galvestonhistory.org.

A gallery of press-ready photos of the ship and her crew is available for download at http://www.galvestonhistory.org/photo_gallery.asp.