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When at home, Anne is tied up in downtown Mystic — 500 feet north of the bridge and 900 feet from the Mystic Seaport. Even there, in a town with the Seaport and its classic boats, Jones says Anne “gets a lot of attention” with passersby stopping to take a closer,look and ask questions about her.

A beefy water pump in the galley.

Oriental’s harbor watchers aren’t shy about asking questions of visiting boat captains either, though some visiting boat captains have expressed peevishness at the enthusiasm for and questions about their character boats, Jones was not in that camp.

Some details about Anne

To answer the basic questions, he had a small sign made to sketch out some of the boat’s story and stats — such as her 48 foot length and 16 foot beam. The sign was propped against the wheelhouse. Beyond that, he welcomed visitors aboard Anne’s decks that used to haul so much — as much as 12 tons. He genuinely liked to talk with visitors at the dock.

“Don’t bring something like this and not answer people’s questions. If you’re not up for that….” says Jones, “Anchor out. Or get a Tartan.”

Within an hour of Anne’s arrival at Oriental’s Town Dock, she was attracting passersby who wanted a closer look.

For all her years, and all of her cargo hauls, Anne had never been south of New Jersey. That changed half a year ago, when Geoff Jones decided he wanted to go away for the winter – a timely choice as Connecticut was hammered by snow and cold.

Geoff Jones says that before he left Mystic in November he knew there were some towns he definitely wanted to visit. Oriental was one of them. Jones and his dog, Reef ,briefly stayed in Oriental in the fall and more recently in the spring when boat and crew stayed two nights at the

He himself – sans Anne – had made boat deliveries between Beaufort and Norfolk over the years and wanted to do the whole of the ICW and see towns on the way. It was also a chance to spend time on the boat he and his father had worked on. He set out on November 4 and headed south. The destination was not necessarily one to find by compass.

“I say that I arrived at my destination when I stepped on board Anne on November 4. Everything else was incidental.”

Anne (pronounced Annie) at Oriental’s Town Dock in March. She was on her way back home to Mystic, CT. .

One can appreciate how, after the years of work, being aboard Anne — purposeful, yet cheerful in her steadiness — seemed satisfaction enough. The wheelhouse and its light varnish is open and airy, and the cabin below, where the engine hides under the table, light in its way too. The boat seems well-loved.

Tea kettle storage.

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Posted Wednesday April 8, 2015 by Melinda Penkava

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