Mystic Seaport to Host 35th Annual Antique & Classic Boat Rendezvous

Award-winning Express Cruiser Nisca and more than 50 other power and sail vessels will participate in the 35th annual Antique & Classic Boat Rendezvous at Mystic Seaport, Saturday and Sunday, July 24-25.
The event showcases restored antique vessels built before 1965 including cruisers, sailboats, runabouts and launches. Visitors are invited to see the displayed vessels Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. An award competition will recognize excellence in restoration, authenticity and workmanship.
Sunday at 12:30 p.m., the classic vessels will take part in a three-mile parade down the historic Mystic River. Each boat will be announced on the shore as it passes through Mystic’s famous Bascule Bridge on to Noank, while townspeople and tourists will line the parade route to see the boats and their costumed crews.

Sabino, the Museum’s 102-year-old steamboat will lead the parade, followed soon after by Nisca, a 40’ Express Cruiser, homeported in Old Lyme, CT. Designed by William Hand Jr. and built by Portland Yacht Yard in 1924, Nisca has been attending the Antique & Classic Boat Rendezvous since the 1970s, has won numerous prizes and is a  five-time Best Powerboat winner. The vessel most recently won an award for continuing support of the Museum’s annual event and for excellence in yacht preservation.

Nisca is an Ojibway word for “wild duck.”  She was purchased by her present owners, Fred and Rebecca Crosby, in 1988 and her restoration began in the spring of 1989. Nisca was out of the water for five years and returned in 1994 with a new keel, stem, 100 ribs, floor timbers and engine mounts. Nisca had an open main saloon with a pipeframe and canvas top originally. Previous owners, most likely in the 1930s, replaced this structure with an enclosed cabin. Later in the late ‘40s to early ‘50s, the 1930s cabin was replaced by a 1950s-style house which is not in character with her William Hand design. While in restoration, the present owners removed the 1950s-style house and replaced it with what they believe her 1930s cabin would have looked like.
            For more information, visit www.mysticseaport.org/acbr.
            Mystic Seaport is the nation’s leading maritime museum. The Museum is located one mile south of exit 90 off I-95 in Mystic, CT and is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $24 for adults and $15 for children ages 6-17. Children 5 and under are admitted for free. Second-day admission is complementary upon ticket validation.