Visit the Ship Godspeed in Jamestown Settlement

In June of 2007 my family and I took an exciting adventure to Jamestown, Virginia to see one of the closest replica of a ship called the Godspeed. This entire ship was made by handcrafted men in Rockport, Main. The tools to reproduce this ship were what the craftsmen back in the 17th century used, with the exception of just a few modern ones and just a few were stressed by the men aboard the ship.

These men that were aboard the ship, dresses in 17th century sailors clothing, are all volunteers that reenact these people of time long ago. They take there sailing very seriously. You have to be educated in the time period and are not allowed to go to sea until you know how to sail these time period ship exactly like there were meant to be sailed.

Upon entering the Jamestown Settlement you will walk through an Indian village and down a path that winds through lots of trees then you round the corner and there in front of you are 3 huge ships. It kind o f takes your breath away.

All three ships called the Godspeed, Susan Constant, and Discovery are right there tied to the dock. The public is allowed to visit all three ships. There is also the Elizabeth but it's not commissioned as of yet.

Upon walking up the gang plank of the Godspeed you are greeted by the 17th century sailors that are very friendly and will tell you all about the ship. It is amazing at there knowledge of information that they have to know. Basically every man has to know how to do each job that a 13 man crew can do.

You will be amazed at the amount of rope that these ships have on board and need in order to sail. You have to watch where you stepped at all time. Don't know how the sailor didn't keep from tripping all the time.

There is one thing that you might find interesting. In the old movies you always see these old ships being steered by a man standing behind a big wheel. This isn't true! In the time of the Godspeed, Susan Constant, and the Discovery; ships didn't have those steering wheels yet they weren't even invented. The way of steering the ships were by a simple stick or long piece of wood that had a ruttier on the end. The ruttier end was down in the water with the other end all the way up through the ships deck to the man that steered. This was just amazing because you could look down the hole that the wood stick went through and see the water!

The galley consisted of a brick fire pit with pots that swung over the fire and one small cabinet. How the cook supplied the food is beyond imagination. The cook also slept in this very small tiny room.

There was very limited sleeping quarters on the Godspeed and not every man had there own bunk. When it was your turn to sleep you just woke the man that was sleeping and you laid down to sleep. The sailor we were talking to said that crews could be out to sea for months on end and never bathed. Can you imagine the body odor and everything else that was in the straw mattresses!

We learned a lot that day of 17th century sailing that I will leave for your own enjoyment when you are visiting Jamestown Settlement. The experience is beyond words that our country was founded by men sailing 5 months on ships that were made basically out of wood planks and held together by wooden pegs over a giant ocean.

Below is some information that the Jamestown Visitors Center supplied telling a little about the Godspeed and how and why it was built

On March 19th of 2007 a ship was launched at Rockport, Main named Godspeed. In May of 2007 the Godspeed was sailed down the eastern coast of the United States to Jamestown, Virginia where it has and will remain in port along side the Susan Constant and the Discovery.

This Godspeed was built to replace the 1982 replica, which was built off the 1957 replica, which was deteriorating due to white-rot fungus. This fungus thrives in Virginia's climate and attacks the natural lignin in pine, that slowly destroys the wood's strength.

No one really knows much about the original ship Godspeed or what happened to it when it returned to England. There is no known illustration or blueprints to be found. Since the 1982 Godspeed was built much research has been done to make the 2007 Godspeed the closest replica possible. It's a 40-ton merchant vessel from the 17th century that could also carry passengers.

The new research reveled that the original ship was bigger with a length of 88 feet, a width of 17 feet, and the main mast was 14 feet taller. The earlier replica of the Godspeed was 68 feet in length and 15 feet wide. The sales equal 2,420 square feet compared to 1,128 square feet of the older version ship. The researchers couldn't figure out how this small of ship could of held 50 people so this more recent research has proven valuable in figuring how 50 men and boys sailed for 5 months across the ocean.; 13 of those men were the crew.

The ship was built out of several kinds of hardwoods that was shipped in from a South American country, Surinam. Angelique and wana wood make up the planking and ribs and the deck is made of silver bali.

If you take a look at the pictures you will see the first one is showing you how the ship was built with wooden pegs; the wood was steamed in order for it to be shaped into a curve. The second picture is one of the volunteer sailors, the third is of the galley where meals were made, the fourth is one of the bunks that a sailor would sleep, notice how short; a sailor couldn't stretch out, the fifth picture is of the cargo hold; this is where the 39 men that were on the original Godspeed would of stayed.