Who We Are
We are a collection of individuals with a love of the maritime world, living history, traditional watercraft, and things that go boom. Some of us are professionally trained historians and museum educators; others have 20+ years in traditional skills such as blacksmithing and historical costuming. Participating in historical reenactments is a way for us to indulge our hobbies and share them with the general public.
We have a pool of volunteer crew who attend events based on geography and availability. Merganser can be run single-handedly if necessary (without the cannon), but we usually carry 3 or 4 crewmen for tacticals. For events that feature troop landings as part of the simulated battles, we’ve been able to carry up to 10 soldiers with gear and lifejackets.
Chris Collins. Photo by Sarah O'Connor.
Sarah O'Connor. Photo by Brian Chabot.
Commonly Seen Crewmembers:
- Chris “Ekk” Collins – Our Commander and the owner and builder of both the Merganser and the Heron.
- Sarah O’Connor – Sailing master and Coxswain.
- Brian Chabot – The newest member of the crew, the webmaster and oarsman.
Some of the Crew, Plattsburgh 2009.
We are often looking for additional volunteer hands for a weekend or two at a time (possibly more, eventually). Potential crewmembers should be able to follow directions and have a sense of humor.
Boat experience and/or weapons experience is good, but not necessary. (We can teach you.) The basic skillset involves pulling an oar, handling lines, and safely using flintlock pistols and muskets. We also interact a lot with the public, so enthusiasm for hands-on education is a definite plus.
Our event schedule currently takes us all over New England, but with the completion of Heron we will be traveling up and down the Eastern Seaboard.
Interested? Get in touch with us via our contact form.
Some of the Crew, Plattsburgh 2009.
Nicely done. I enjoyed reading and looking at it all.
May I say Huzzah.