Maine’s First Ship in Bath will host its first ever lecture series beginning on Sunday. The series will focus on 17th century maritime and colonial history, and will involve four separate presentations with themes of navigation, Native American guides, piracy and shipbuilding. Presentations will take place at the Winter Street Center on Washington Street.
MFS Vice President Jeremy Blaiklock organized the series after attending a colonial reenactment in Pemaquid last summer.
“I was talking to the man who played the blacksmith, Jeffery Miller, and learned that he also builds replicas of navigation equipment from the 1600s,” said Blaiklock. “He was very knowledgeable, and I thought hearing him talk would be something our guests would enjoy.”
Subsequently, Miller will present “The Sea Artist: Role of the Navigator on Board the 17th Century Ship” this Sunday to kick off the lecture series. Blaiklock said Miller will bring in several replicas for the presentation, including “the precursor to what would basically be a sexton,” a tool that helped colonial sea captains navigate by using the stars as their guide.
“Anyone interested in boats and history would really enjoy hearing this guy talk,” said Blaiklock.
Other presentations will occur in late April, May and June, and involve speakers from the MFS board and other historians from the Midcoast area.
“Hopefully this will be an annual event,” said Allison Hepler, secretary of the MFS board. “There’s a whole lot of knowledge of the colonial age out there, and we are hoping this is a way to get that information to the public.”
“In our visitors center we tell people what the basics are, but I think this is a really good chance to get into the specifics and the deeper details and aspects of the Popham Colony and the colonial age,” said Blaiklock.
Jeffery Miller’s presentation of “The Sea Artist: Role of the Navigator on Board the 17th Century Ship” will take place this Sunday at 2 p.m. at Winter Street Center, 880 Washington St., Bath. Entry is free with a suggested donation of $5. For more information, visit the Maine’s First Ship Facebook page.
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