| Godspeed on the Bay with all sails flying. Courtesy Jamestown Settlement |
Out
on the Chesapeake Bay Thursday morning a curious-looking three-masted ship
gradually takes on sail.
Rapid-fire
commands by the mates – “ease off the brace!” slack the weather lift!,” “haul
out the weather bowline!” etc., cause square mainsails, foresails, topsails, sprit
and mizzen sails to drop from their yards like parachutes on a windy day.
And
the Godspeed, now in the thrall of a 12-knot northerly wind, is suddenly alive
– along with the story that includes her all-but-forgotten captain, Bartholomew
Gosnold.
Godspeed
and sister ships Susan Constant and Discovery, brought the first English
settlers to America over four centuries ago. Their distant offspring,
painstakingly replicated and lovingly tended to by staff and volunteers at the
Jamestown Settlement, help recreate the voyage for thousands of tourists.
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| Volunteers Georgia Irby and John Robinson unfurl a sail on a bright blue morning on the Bay. By Paul Clancy |
If
you watch the Parade of Sail this Friday, you’ll notice, just behind the Coast
Guard’s tall ship Eagle, the not-so-tall, but still-quite-proud Godspeed
sailing in second position, representing the state.
In
preparation last week, the 88-foot bark-rigged vessel slogged through heavy
rain on Wednesday to Hampton and then, on a gorgeous clear Thursday, sailed to
Yorktown.
You
could feel the tug on the tiller as Godspeed sailed close to the wind, heeling
gently to starboard. And the tug of history as reminders of its centuries-old
namesake walked its decks.
Gosnold
was a lawyer, privateer and explorer who, arguably more than anyone, was the
driving force behind the first English settlement in America. He captained a
1602 expedition to the coast of New England where he discovered and named Cape
Cod and Martha’s Vineyard – after his deceased daughter – and built a fort on a
nearby small island.
It might
have been the first English settlement, but Indian attacks and lack of
provisions for the winter sent the would-be colonists back to England.
But
the idea of colonizing the New World had taken hold and the young explorer
lobbied and eventually convinced King James to support a new venture. He
recruited crew members, including Captain John Smith, for the enterprise.
Historians
say that the ever-scribbling Smith is more famous only because he survived and
because he wrote so much.
Gosnold
didn’t lead the Jamestown expedition. Because of his political connections, the
job went to Christopher Newport, who skippered the largest of the ships, the
Susan Constant. The title of second-in-command went to Gosnold.
And
even though he was never president of the colony, it was clear that Gosnold –
who disliked the dismal Jamestown site – was really in charge. During a massive
Indian attack he boarded Godspeed and turned the ship’s guns on the attackers,
scattering them.
But
the very reasons he hated the island proved to be his undoing. In August 1607
he succumbed to disease and was buried outside the fort. And promptly forgotten
– until recent years when archaeologists excavated a grave believed to be his,
although DNA tests proved inconclusive.
Even though he played such a major role in
the first settlement in America, no great rivers, no great cities or
universities have been named for him. Smith himself called him “the first mover
of this plantation.” Recently, British Heritage magazine called him “the man who
was responsible for England’s settling the New World.”
Well, if he’s forgotten it won’t be because
the volunteers and crew of the Godspeed haven’t tried.
During
the trip to Yorktown, Eric Speth, the captain of the Jamestown fleet who
oversaw construction of the new Godspeed replica in 2006, takes me on a tour.
Down
below in the cargo hold, he points to the ship’s authentic construction, from
the hand-wrought nails and sea chests to the hardwood ribs, planks and beams,
and, on deck, double-fluke anchors. There’s modern equipment, to be sure, diesel
engines and GPS chart plotters, but they can be easily hidden away when
tourists come aboard at Jamestown.
Speth
constantly marvels at how well the Godspeed handles in spite of its odd
appearance, and how capable it handles in the roughest conditions. As rough as
any the Atlantic could dish out on that long voyage.
Although
not the largest of the Jamestown fleet, the Godspeed may be its most visible.
It’s now the one that does most of the sailing for events like OpSail and other
excursions around the region.
And
then perhaps there’s old Gosnold himself brooding about and wishing for a
little more recognition. “One of the best feelings I get,” Speth says, “is that
we can carry the story of the founding of Virginia aboard the Godspeed to other
ports throughout the state.”





