What’s the Scuttlebutt?*

There’s a lot happening at Puget Sound Maritime this warm summer of 2015. Listen closely and you’ll hear what’s going on behind the scenes.

But first …

Imagine you are the captain of a Puget Sound ferryboat at the end of the 19^th century, part of the famous “Mosquito Fleet.” Your job is to ferry passengers from Tacoma to Seattle, but Oh, No! There’s a log floating right in your path! A storm comes up suddenly! A passenger falls overboard! What’s a skipper to do?

Several new exhibits are in the works for the McCurdy Family Maritime Gallery at MOHAI that will help visitors understand the realities of navigation in the days when water was the primary highway for travelers around Puget Sound.

Our biggest project will be the installation of a large gaming console, referred to as a “touch table,” which will use historic photos and real events combined with modern animation to allow players to navigate Mosquito Fleet steamships around a variety of hazards along their routes.  Tentatively titled “Charting Our Course,” players will choose a course: for example, the Seattle to Tacoma run with the FLYER or the Mercer Island route with the FORTUNA. They will then follow the historically accurate route, making split-second decisions necessary to reach their destination safely in the face of real-life perils. The touch table will have an engaging soundtrack that will enhance the nautical feel of the Maritime Gallery and content that will attract kids and adults alike with its rich but fun presentation.

In addition to the permanent touch table, we plan to add a non-digital interactive mapping station where visitors will learn about and see historical mapping instruments, then use such tools to plot a course around Lake Union. Participants will be able to relate their maps to the panorama of Lake Union right outside the gallery windows.

For those who’d just like to get their hands on a ship’s wheel and steer, we will have a new hands-on helm station complete with ship’s wheel and engine order telegraph. Highlighting the building’s history as the old Naval Reserve Armory and the Maritime Gallery’s original function as a bridge deck mock-up, the helm station should be in place this fall!

The Mosquito Fleet touch table and the mapping station are currently in the planning and design stages. It takes a certain amount of resources to bring exhibits into the 21^st Century and these are no exception. The combined cost of the two exhibits will reach over $150,000, of which a large portion is being generously donated by the McCurdy Family. The rest must be made up of grants and individual donations. Details on a campaign to raise funds for these projects will be coming your way soon!

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

A year ago PSM took possession of a large cache of ships plans drawn by the late, renowned naval architect Edwin Monk Sr., along with a collection of photographs and artifacts. These plans, photos, and objects, while well organized, require proper archival storage and cataloging. It will be a big job! UW Information School interns Jodi Myers and Suzanne LeDoux have laid the groundwork for us by formally assessing the collection and estimating the resources (time, money, personnel) required to complete conservation. They have also drafted a user guide for staff and volunteers working on the conservation project. This work will be a big help to us as we plan our collections work and seek grants to fund it.

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Special thanks to the McCurdy Family for initial funding of our exhibits enhancement project; Christina Januszewski, UW Museology intern, for researching and designing the mapping station; MOHAI for donating the touch table console; the Harbor Club of Seattle for donating the ship’s wheel; James McCurdy Sr. for donating the engine room telegraph; Jodi Myers and Suzanne LeDoux, UW iSchool interns, for assessing the archival and cataloging needs of the Edwin Monk Sr. Ships Plans Collection; and students of the UW Museology Program for evaluating our gallery visitor experience and pointing us toward the future.

* Scuttlebutt: a cask of water with a hole allowing sailors to get a drink; a place to exchange news and gossip; news and gossip!