Dear Cousins:

The schedule for the maiden voyage of the Elizabeth Tilley is now as firmly set as anything on the ocean can be.

We expect that we will be launching our shallop some time toward the end of July. For those of you who have had a chance to see her at Plimoth Plantation in her nearly completed state, she is a pretty little vessel. Since she is solid oak, she is about as strong a vessel as you can build out of wood.

We will be testing her out in Plymouth Bay during July. Then, on Friday July 25 and through the weekend of July 26 and 27, we will be outfitting her for the voyage and storing our cargo of corn bread. The corn will, of course, be the real thing – white cap flint corn.

We have arranged for friends all along the way to help us out on the voyage. We will be putting into port every evening. We will have a chase boat with radar on board and a video photographer to record the trip. If we get becalmed, we can have the chase boat tow us. I know that John Howland didn’t have a chase boat on his 1628 voyage, but we have apparently grown quite soft in the intervening 375 years.

I have heard from lots of potential crewmembers. You will remember that the deadline for signing up was June 6, 2003. I will be juggling the lists I have so that everybody has a chance to sail aboard Elizabeth Tilley and we will accommodate vacations and people’s schedules as best we can. I will be sending out the schedule to all the sailors some time in mid-June. This will leave us with time for last minute adjustments if anybody has something come up or someone feels a sudden urge to go to sea with us.

When we get up to Kennebunkport, we have planned a reception in conjunction with the folks at Plimoth Plantation. The reception will be on Thursday evening July 31 at 5:30pm at the River Club in Kennebunkport. I understand that this is quite a nice place. Any Howland members who wish to attend should call or write me for an invitation. Please let me know by July 11. The River Club has a limited capacity.

Plimoth Plantation is working on another reception for Portland on the evening of Sunday, August 3. We have just received the good news that Phineas Sprague, owner of the Portland Yacht Services will allow us to meet there. Mr. Sprague also owns a Railroad Museum that is interesting to visit. The reception will be from 2-4pm.

We would like to have as many of you as can make it come to greet us at each of our ports of call. The sailors will all be in appropriate period uniforms and it should be fun to see Elizabeth Tilley sailing into port.

When we arrive in Augusta, the people who run Old Fort Western (Jay Adams, the director, and company) are planning a welcoming reception and celebration for us. The State of Maine historical people are trying to arrange for some Indians with beaver pelts to trade for our corn. So, the final stop in Augusta should be a great deal of fun.

Now, on to plans for our Annual Meeting.

This will be on Friday, August 22, and Saturday August 23, 2003. This year we will hold our meeting at the Radisson Hotel. The Executive Committee held a spring meeting in April at the Radisson and it offers larger meeting rooms and better facilities than at the Carver. So, we decided to try the Radisson this year. There is plenty of parking there and easy access. The Radisson is right on the waterfront in Plymouth just north of the Mayflower II. It is easy to find.

We have arranged for rooms for attendees at the Radisson at $129.00 a night plus tax. This is a pretty good rate considering the normal summer rate is $195.00. the Radisson has agreed to hold 10 rooms for Thursday and Saturday night and 20 rooms for Friday night. Barbara Adams will be sending out more information on this when she sends out the letters to our members so that you can indicate your attendance and your menu choices.

On Thursday evening, August 21, for those of us who have arrived in Plymouth a little early, we will all get together at the Carver at 6:00pm for an informal dutch treat dinner and get-together. Everyone is welcome to come.

We plan on our usual banquet on Friday evening. We hope that we will have videos of the voyage of the Elizabeth Tilley to show everyone and we will have out sailors tell of their adventures along the way.

The Executive Committee will be meeting at Howland House on Friday afternoon at 1:00pm. The Annual Meeting will be on Saturday morning at 10:00am at the Radisson. This will be followed by lunch at noon and then we will visit Burial Hill for a short service in memory of John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley.

This should be a good meeting. As always, wonderful to be in Plymouth in the summertime. Please plan on attending.

This article appeared in the June 2003 issue of The Howland Quarterly.