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The Godspeed sailing on the high seas.
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Replica ships of the original vessels that brought English settlers in 1607 to Virginia.
Jamestown Settlement opened as Jamestown Festival Park in 1957, and it built three replica ships in honor of the original vessels that brought English settlers in 1607 to Virginia—Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery.
In 2006, a new replica of Godspeed based on the latest scholarly research was built as an operational ship capable of taking ocean voyages.
“We designed and built the ship as accurately as we could according to 17th century design and construction practices,” said Eric Speth, Maritime Program Manager, Museum Operations and Education at Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation.
After its 2006 commissioning, Godspeed took a six-city tour to promote the 400th anniversary of the founding of Virginia and the United States.
“We sailed to Alexandria, Virginia; Baltimore, Maryland; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; New York City; Boston, Massachusetts; and Newport, Rhode Island. It was about 90 days,” said Speth.
Today, its 13-member crew sails along the Chesapeake Bay stopping at ports of call, and this year’s ports include: Richmond in October and the Urbanna Oyster Festival in November.
“At each one of those port stops Godspeed is an educational outreach vessel representing the Jamestown Settlement Museum,” Speth said. “We’re open to the public and do special tours where people can learn about life aboard ships and early Virginia history.”
Every other year, the Foundation dry docks Godspeed for repair. In 2019, they chose Tiffany Yachts in Burgess, Virginia, to maintain the ship.
“Tiffany Yachts is a very experienced, full-service boatyard. Godspeed had an excellent experience with the dry dock contract with Tiffany Yachts,” said Speth.
Dry docking removes a ship from the water to perform maintenance on the hull. This process ensures that Godspeed is shipshape and seaworthy for the next 24 months.
“Tiffany Yachts had a building where we could move Godspeed inside for caulking, painting and other maintenance. We removed the rigging and repainted part of the mast as well. We carefully inspected all the joints between the planks (seams) and recaulked the seams to make sure the vessel doesn’t leak,” said Speth.
After five weeks and a successful dry dock at Tiffany Yachts, Godspeed made her way back to Jamestown Settlement.
“I found the staff there to be very experienced in all aspects of marine maintenance. They were completely capable of accomplishing all we needed for Godspeed at a high level of quality,” said Speth.
