06/23/2026
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ELISSA Captain's Log: 12 noon, Tuesday, June 23rd, 2026
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MENTORSHIP
While we were in Cambridge, Maryland, over the past couple of days, I was interviewed by a few local journalists. We had over a thousand people tour the ship, and hundreds more came down to see us from the dock. Many of the questions we were asked and the stories we told reflect that ELISSA is not simply a historic vessel functioning as a museum, but is still an active, very much “alive” sailing ship.
Absolutely - ELISSA serves as an example of a late-19th-century square-rigged ship that people can observe for her layout, rigging, and structure. But it’s the reality that she is NOT simply “operational”, but is in fact OPERATING, which sets ELISSA apart and makes her so important. Essential to her being able to sail is her crew, and the crew would be nothing without their training.
As many of you are aware, Galveston Historical Foundation has the Barque ELISSA certified as a “training vessel." But to think of her educational mission as just happening when trainees come aboard is to miss a HUGE part of the teaching that occurs: the ongoing training which every member of the crew experiences.
Along with being a traditionally rigged vessel, ELISSA is also continuing the nautical tradition of apprenticing, learning through doing. A sailing ship can take a person with zero experience as a deckhand aboard, and if they are attentive and interested, the more senior members of the crew guide and train them. They advance upwards through the ranks, coming “up through the hawsepipe” to potentially become officers. Then it is incumbent upon them to share what they’ve learned with the next crop of sailors.
It’s this ongoing maritime training, a natural, inherent feature of sailing ships, which sustains ELISSA and keeps our maritime skills and traditions alive.
Regards,
Captain Andrew Ellers
p.s. Today's image is from an aggressive storm front that blew through the Chesapeake region last evening.
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POSITIONING
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ELISSA at 12 noon (EDT)
Distance Traveled: 1826nm
Position: 38deg 39' N x 76deg 15' W
Course: 270 M
Speed-Over-Ground: 7.2 kts
Weather: Overcast; 10-12kt wind from NNW; seas 1-2’.
