Godspeed to Jamestown (2006) (review)

In 1607, three ships, belonging to the Virginia Company of London, sailed from England for the coast of North America, their goal: to plant a new colony in the name of England. Those three ships, the Susan Constant, Discovery, and the Godspeed, carrying settlers to the first permanent English colony in the new world, Jamestown, played a major role in the history of America, and then, for all but a few, were seemingly lost from it. Replicas of each of the ships were constructed and displayed, and a reenactment of the 144-day voyage of the Godspeed, from London to Jamestown, via the Canary Islands, was carried out in 1985, but popular understanding of these vessels has been limited. As part of the 400th anniversary of the settlement of Jamestown, however, the Jamestown/Yorktown Foundation commissioned the building of the latest replica of the Godspeed that would go on display at the Jamestown settlement site. Documentation of that process, of which this film is a part, has returned the Godspeed, her passengers and crew, and the history behind their voyage to the public eye.

Godspeed to Jamestown, part of the History Channel's "Save Our History" series, follows the research and building of this replica. Host Steve Thomas ("This Old House") narrates the efforts of historians and shipbuilders to recapture the form and essence of the Godspeed. The film takes its audience through the process of building the reproduction, making the sails, transporting the ship to the water and launching her for a test cruise.

The process was not easy, since she was an unremarkable cargo vessel whose historical significance became apparent only after she was gone. Maritime historian Peter J. Wrike dug into port records (written in Latin) and other archival sources to discover what he could about the ship. He found no plans or illustrations and only sketchy descriptions. He did however undercover a manuscript on shipbuilding from the correct period. Using this and sketches of similar ships, he was able to provide enough information for Tri-Coastal Marine of Richmond, California, to draw up plans for the replica: A 74-foot ship with four rectangular sails on two masts and a fifth hung below the long bowsprit.

Construction of the ship took place at Rockport Marine in Rockport, Maine, a company specializing in large wooden boats. The foreman for the project was John England, who describes the modern-day wooden shipbuilder as "part architect, part woodworker, part mechanic, part electrician, part plumber, part monkey and about 2/3 crazy". England's sense of humor and love for his work add an engaging edge to the story of this ship. In fact, it is apparent in the film that everyone involved in this project was having a good time. The passion of each craftsman, from the caulker to the sailmaker (Nat Wilson, who also made sails for the Mayflower replica and the USS Constitution) is contagious. They have a sense of history and an enthusiasm for the work that lasted throughout the project. This includes host Steve Thomas—himself an expert on traditional boat building—who is shown getting his hands dirty on the project and loving every minute of it.

The replica of the Godspeed was not built exactly as was the original. For one thing, the modern day shipbuilders used power tools to do much of the work. They used concrete ballast in place of cargo in order to make sure the ship was the correct weight and shaped the planks by methods with which their 17^th century counterparts would not have been familiar. Additionally, John England had computer generated blue prints from which to work, although--as he himself pointed out in the film--the original ship builder would have worked from a design in his head and nothing else. The replica also uses different woods than the original, for ease of maintenance, and has diesel engines, a modern galley, and a flush toilet hidden away behind closed doors. The project was...