Tall Ships Coming to Miramichi

The Jeanie Johnston and H.M.S. Bounty are scheduled to dock in Miramichi for a few days this September.

The Jeanie Johnston

Disaster struck Ireland from 1845 to 1848 when disease hit the potato crop. Every family in the country was touched in one way or another. For many people, it came down to the stark choice between risking the fearful transatlantic voyage on an emigrant ship or remaining in Ireland to starve.

This is where the famed Jeanie Johnston entered the picture. A square-sterned, three-masted barque, constructed of Quebec oak and pine, the 408 tonne ship was built in Quebec, Canada by noted Scottish-born shipbuilder, John Munn in 1847.

A year later, the prominent Tralee County Kerry hardware merchant, Nicholas Donovan, purchased the ship in Liverpool and to use on the North Atlantic route as a cargo vessel.

The potato famine soon helped to change his mind and the ship made its maiden voyage to Quebec on April 24, 1848. As their countrymen perished at home, 193 emigrants on board crossed the Atlantic in search of a new life.

Over the next seven years, the Jeanie Johnston accomplished a remarkable feat. She sailed 16 heroic voyages to North America and carried over 2,500 Irish people across the Atlantic — and no lives were lost on board.

The Jeanie Johnston offered few comforts on the hazardous journey, which usually lasted about two months, but it was also far removed from the infamous ‘coffin ships’ most notably associated with the thousands of emigrants who perished on the transatlantic voyages in 1847.

Emigrants on the Jeanie Johnston were berthed below deck in the steerage area. They had to provide their own bedding. They were pressed together – four to a six foot-square bunk, with two children counting as one adult. On one trip the stalwart ship carried a total of 254 passengers.

Can you imagine the chaos and fear as people, who probably walked for miles to catch the ship, were thrown together in the dark and stuffy underbelly of the Jeanie Johnston to face the unknown?

Who were these brave Irish people who paid £3.10 shillings to make the heroic journey to the ‘New World’?

The passenger lists to Quebec remain undiscovered, but a complete list for the voyage to Baltimore offers some clues. While many were farmers and labourers with their families, most were single women between the ages of 16 and 30.

Despite the cramped and primitive conditions, the Jeanie Johnston was humanely operated and cared as best it could for the fleeing emigrants.

Its enviable record of not having lost a single life to either disease or illness at sea was largely due to the efforts of Dr. Richard Blennerhassett.

The doctor ensured that hatches were open every day when possible, that the bedding was aired, the accommodation below deck was kept as clean as possible and everyone would be encouraged to take a walk on the deck each day unless the weather was too rough.

Even when the ship met its final end, no lives were lost. In 1856, she was sold as a cargo ship and two years later when en route from Quebec to Hull with timber, she ran into trouble in mid-Atlantic.

Overloaded and waterlogged she sank, but not before all aboard were rescued by a passing ship – preserving her perfect safety record.

The replica of the Jeanie Johnston was designed by Fred M. Walker, Chief Naval Architect with the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, who was the supervising architect for the recreation of the 18th century Captain Cook Endeavour II ship.

The recreation of the Jeanie Johnston is one of the most ambitious maritime heritage projects undertaken in Ireland.

You can be part of this unique and historic experience.

The Jeanie Johnston's 2003 voyage to North America will provide a unique opportunity for those who wish to sail on board between Ports in the United States and Canada as a sail trainee.

The historic transatlantic voyages were booked out but there are now some "between port" sail-training opportunities as featured below:

A coal carrying merchant ship operating on the coast of England named the Bethia was purchased by the Admiralty, renamed the Bounty, and re-commissioned in 1787 for a special mission.

She was to sail halfway around the world to Tahiti, collect sapling breadfruit trees and transport them to the West Indies. Owners of the burgeoning British plantations there needed a cheap source of food for the workers. 

To lead the mission, the Admiralty picked 33-year-old Lt. William Bligh, who had been the sailing master on the HMS Resolution, on Capt. Cook's last voyage of discovery.

Though portrayed as an abusive tyrant by Hollywood, Bligh may be one of the greatest seamen who ever lived. 

After trying for 30 days to make it westward around Cape Horn, as he had been ordered, Bligh turned about and headed East; around the Cape of Good Hope, across the whole width of the Indian Ocean, then Northeast into the Pacific, arriving in Tahiti after a l0 month voyage.

Bligh and the crew set about collecting the more than 1000 breadfruit plants they were to take to the Caribbean. They spent five months in Tahiti, during which time Bligh allowed a number of the crew to live ashore, to care for the potted breadfruit plants.

Without the discipline and rigid schedule of the sea, the men went native. Three crewmen deserted, hoping to spend their days in this tropical paradise; but were recaptured by Bligh and flogged. 

Three weeks out of Tahiti, enroute to the West Indies with the breadfruit plants, Master's Mate (Acting Lieutenant) Fletcher Christian, angered and humiliated over the continual abuse from Capt. Bligh took the ship.

Of the 44 men on board, 31 sided with Bligh. Of the 31, 18 went over the side with Bligh to be set adrift in the Bounty's launch.

The mutineers, numbering about half of the remaining 25 crewmen, but in command of the Bounty having secured all the firearms aboard, sailed the ship to the island of Tubuai.

After an unsuccessful three month effort to settle on the island, they returned to Tahiti and put 16 of the crew ashore, some loyal to Bligh, some mutineers.

Fletcher Christian and eight Bounty crew, accompanied by six Tahitian men and twelve women, one with a baby, sailed away in the Bounty hoping to hide forever from the long arm of the British law.

Bligh, having no charts and using only a sextant and a pocket watch, navigated the launch 3600 nautical miles to safety in 41 days. Only one man died on the voyage - stoned to death by angry natives on the first island they tried to land on.

The launch voyage was a feat of navigation unparalleled to this day. 

The mutineers eventually settled on Pitcairn Island, an isolated rock in the Pacific that was misplaced on British charts. They burned the ship in what is now called Bounty Bay and weren't discovered for 18 years. 

After all but two of the fifteen men that settled on Pitcairn had been killed in bloody murders, Midshipman Edward Young and Able Bodied Seaman John Adams began building a society based on the ship's bible.

Edward Young died in 1800, leaving John Adams the sole survivor. Their descendants still live there in a moralistic community, clinging to their tiny rock, struggling to survive in today's technological world. 

The H.M.S. Bounty will be in Miramichi September 17^th through the 21^st.

You can step aboard the Bounty during dockside tours and step back through 200 years of maritime history. 

As a working 18th-century square rigger and as a replica of one of the world's most famous ships, the Bounty has a host of stories to tell and history to teach. 

Still an actively sailing ship, the Bounty takes on the role of a living museum in her dockside tours. Guests can learn how the ship works today from the crew members who sail her, as well as see how sailors lived and worked 200 years ago. In addition to being skilled sailors, the Bounty crew is knowledgeable in maritime history and movies. 

Strolling the weather deck, you can take a turn on the ship's wheel - itself a piece of movie history used in both the 1935 and 1962 versions of Mutiny on the Bounty. 

As you enter the dimly lit world below deck, you'll see the cramped conditions that sailors suffered 200 years ago, as well as the relative luxury that the captain and officers enjoyed. 

Step into the old galley and hear about the less than delicate fare served up by cooks. Peer down into the hold and see some of the tools and supplies that are still used to maintain the ship. 

As you pass the officers' cabins and step into the great cabin, you'll begin to learn about the world's most famous mutiny from the interpretive displays and from the crew members stationed there. 

Whether you spend 20 minutes or two hours on board, you'll walk away with a new appreciation of the ships that shaped our world, the drama they inspired and the excitement they continue to offer today.

There are also many opportunities to become part of the Bounty Family.

In order to be considered for a volunteer crew position on Bounty, you must first volunteer your time towards Bounty restoration or dockside maintenance programs.

The Bounty does not require any previous sailing experience or special skills. They are unique in that the first requirement is a strong desire to be on the ship. Many of their "Paid Positions" come from the volunteer core.

Trainees on the Bounty work side-by-side with members of the crew to help set and strike the sails, man the helm and even climb in the rigging to help furl the sails. Underway, casual classes teach sail theory, celestial navigation, marlinespike seamanship, and maritime history.

Sailing adventures on board last from as little as a day to as long as a month. Along the way, guests are likely to pick up a few sea chanties, and learn the real story behind Captain Bligh and the world's most famous mutiny.

The Bounty is dedicated to teaching history and the lost maritime skills of square-rigged sailing. It is one of only two full-rigged ships still practicing square-rigged seamanship skills.

But many guests say the biggest lesson on the Bounty is what they learned about themselves - teamwork, leadership and personal motivation.

If you're interested in sailing the Bounty, contact the HMS Bounty at PO Box 141 Oakdale, NY 11769 Telephone (631)588-7900 or email gosailing@tallshipbounty.com

To learn more about The Bounty’s history, restoration and sailing programs visit their website at www.tallshipbounty.com