Come summer, Mystic Whaler will call Whaling City home. 
 Reprinted with permission from The Day

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Come summer, Mystic Whaler will call Whaling City home

By Richard Rainey and Joe Wojtas
Day Staff Writers

New London – Mystic’s loss will soon be City Pier’s gain.
The Mystic Whaler, a 103-foot replica of a 19th century New England cargo schooner, has announced plans to dock a the pier during its summer cruise season. The ship has been a fixture in Mystic for 38 years.

The Whaler’s current owner and captain, John Eginton, learned this past summer that his dock space on Holmes Street had been leased to another boat and that he would have to find a new home.

Eginton, who has owned the boat for the past 11 years, said that while Mystic is the boat’s home, New London was his first choice to relocate.

While operating another boat, the Mystic Clipper, out of New London in 1994, Eginton said he saw the viability of the city as a location for a schooner operation, given the transformation of the city’s waterfront and the proximity of the city’s transportation hub, which is just feet from City Pier:

“It seemed New London was an ideal spot for a tall ship to operate,” he said.
The Whaler will spend the winter at the Mystic Downtown Marina. In April, it will head to the Hudson River for its annual work with the Clearwater environmental education program. Eginton said the Whaler will celebrate its arrival in New London in June.
City Manager Richard Brown hailed the schooner’s impending arrival.

“The return of a whaling ship to the New London waterfront will help us promote the city’s maritime heritage,” he said.

Eginton said he does not plan any changes to the ship’s schedule, which includes day sails as well as trips to such destinations as Block Island, Chesapeake Bay, New York City and Martha’s Vineyard.

“We seem to have found a niche,” he said. “Whether it’s our three-hour lobster dinner cruises or a five-day trip, they’ve been popular with people. We don’t see a need to change anything.”

Eginton called City Pier a first-rate facility and said his boat and six-person crew would continue its ongoing crew exchanged with the Coast Guard barque Eagle, which occasionally docks at the pier.

Tricia Barkley, interim director of the Mystic Chamber of Commerce, praised Eginton and had kind words for the ship, whose pending departure she lamented.
“It’s sad that she’ll be leaving Mystic,” she said, “but the Mystic Chamber of Commerce will be supporting her wherever she goes.”
Eginton said Mystic will always be home for the boat.

“All of the crew have been proud to be a part of the community and we hope we’ve made a positive contribution to it,” he said.

r.rainey@theday.com
j.wojtas@theday.com

www.mysticwhaler.com