Emma C. Berry, Яхта, 1866

   The Emma C Berry is a 19th century Noank Well Smack, a fishing sloop adapted to the mackeral fisheries of the New England coast. Incorporating a live well, this type was well suited to transporting fish to distant markets. Currently at Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic CT, the Emma C Berry is the last surviving example of the many hundreds of her type. She was built in 1866 as a gaff sloop, converted to a schooner in 1889 (for ease in handling by smaller crews) and served for the next 40 years in the coastal fisheries and freight trades from Connecticut up into Maine. By 1930 her days of working sail were over, she had been abandoned and resurrected, and was relegated to working under power and pumps in northern Maine. Rediscovering a memory of his childhood, she was bought by F. Slade Dale who moved her to Barnegat NJ, where she was restored at Beatons Boatyard. Dale sailed her for another 35 years as yacht and freighter, brought her back to Noank for her 100th anniversary in 1966, and in 1969 donated her to Mystic Seaport Museum. The Museum restored her a second time, returning her to the original sloop rig and wet well to re-create an example of a Noank Well Smack. She remains afloat as a museum exhibit.