''Modesty'' was an oyster sloop built in 1923 by The Wood and Chute Shipyard of Greenport, Long Island, and is now located at the

Long Island Maritime Museum The Long Island Maritime Museum is located in West Sayville, New York. History The Long Island Maritime Museum was founded in 1966 on the waterfront grounds of the former Meadowedge estate of Mrs. Florence Bourne Hard in West Sayville. Flore ...

West Sayville, New York West Sayville is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, New York, United States. It had a population of 5,011 at the 2010 census. Geography West Sayville is located on the South Shore (Long Island), South ...

. Modeled after the catboat ''Honest'', which was built in 1892 by Jelle Dykstra on the west bank of Greens Creek in West Sayville, ''Modesty'' was built as a gaff-rigged sloop, but retained the extreme beam of a

catboat A catboat (alternate spelling: cat boat) is a sailboat with a single sail on a single mast set well forward in the bow of a very beamy and (usually) shallow draft hull. Typically they are gaff rigged, though Bermuda rig is also used. Most are f ...

. For auxiliary power, a two-cylinder Gafka gasoline engine was installed. ''Modesty'' was described by oystermen as a true "southsider". She is believed to be the last sailing scallop dredger built on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

. A beautiful vessel, a fine sailer and typical of the old oyster sloops, her lines show graceful proportions in hull and rig. She has a wide beam and sits low in the water. Her shallow draft permitted her to operate commercially in the oyster and scallop flats of Long Island's bays and the river estuaries of

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. The fact that she was even built at the end of the age of sail is due to a law enacted before World War I, which stipulated that only sail power could be used while dredging for scallops. By this time, many boats in the fleet had their centerboards plugged. After working as a scallop dredger in the

Peconic Bay The Peconic Bay is the parent name for two bays (Great Peconic Bay and Little Peconic Bay) between the North Fork, Suffolk County, New York, North Fork and South Fork, Suffolk County, New York, South Fork of Long Island in Suffolk County, New Yor ...

until 1936, ''Modesty'' moved to Connecticut to finish her working career as an oyster dredger. From the 1948 until 1974 she served as a pleasure yacht for various owners. When ''Modesty'' was acquired by the

, formerly the Suffolk Marine Museum, in 1976, Theodore Haupt, her first owner was present to receive her colors. After restoration, ''Modesty'' was relaunched in 1980 by the Museum. She was christened with a bottle of champagne mixed with water from the Great Peconic Bay and the Great South Bay. A new 1880 penny was placed under the mast along with several pre-1923 coins discovered when the mast was removed during her restoration. Modesty was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2001. ''Modesty'' is berthed next to the 1888 oyster dredging sloop ''

Priscilla Priscilla is an English female given name adopted from Latin '' Prisca'', derived from ''priscus''. There is a theory that this biblical character was the author of the Letter to the Hebrews. The name first appears in the New Testament either ...

'' and near the 1908

Rudolph Oyster House The William Rudolph Oyster House is a historic seafood processing building on the grounds of the Long Island Maritime Museum in West Sayville, New York. Built in 1908, it is a rare well-preserved example of a typical oyster culling house of the ...

, both of which are also National Historic Landmarks.

References

External links

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''Modesty'' at Long Island Maritime Museum
{{Registered Historic Places 1923 ships National Historic Landmarks in New York (state) Islip (town), New York Museum ships in New York (state) Sloops Oyster sloops Ships on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Museums in Suffolk County, New York National Register of Historic Places in Suffolk County, New York