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Roseway - St.
Croix
In the fall of 1920 a
Halifax, Nova Scotia, newspaper challenged the fisherman of
Gloucester, Massachusetts, to a race between the Halifax fishing
schooners and the Gloucester fleet. Therefore many schooners,
such as Roseway, built at this time were not strictly designed
for fishing but in order to protect American honor in the annual
races.
Roseway, 137′ in sparred length, was designed as a fishing yacht
to compete against the Canadians by John James and built in 1925
in his family’s shipyard in Essex, Massachusetts. Father and son
worked side by side on Roseway, carrying on a long New England
history of wooden shipbuilding. She was commissioned by Harold
Hathaway of Taunton, Massachusetts, and was named after an
acquaintance of Hathaway’s “who always got her way.” Despite her
limited fishing history, Roseway set a record of 74 swordfish
caught in one day in 1934.
Roseway was built and maintained to an exceedingly high
standard, using a special stand of white oak from Hathaway’s
property in Taunton. She had varnished rails and stanchions and
had a house built for her every winter. She was so well
maintained that the coal for the stove was washed before being
stored in the bunker. This kind of treatment, which contributed
to her longevity, was unheard of in the commercial fishing
fleet.
 Beginning
in 2002 Roseway underwent a two-year restoration. The school
embarked on the maiden voyage to the Great Lakes during the
summer of 2005. This voyage was a trial for the ship as well as
an opportunity to build support and exposure for the developing
School.
In May 2006 Roseway and the World Ocean School relocated to
Boston, Massachusetts where program development continued as
Roseway was open to the public for the summer season doing day
sails and charters.
In November of the same year, Roseway embarked on a passage to
St. Croix USVI where she spent the winter serving island
students. St. Croix has now become the new winter home port for
Roseway. She still summers in the Northeast, primarily in
Boston, providing education programs and day sails for the
public.
After 84 years of service, she is one of only six original Grand
Banks schooners, and the only schooner specifically designed to
beat the Nova Scotians in the international fishing vessel races
of the 1920s and 1930s. She is a registered U.S. National
Historic Landmark operating in Boston and St. Croix, USVI.
www.WorldOceanSchool.org
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