First Sunday of the Month | May–October 2025 | 2–4pm | Wavertree | Free
See the Hybrid Sea Chanteys and Maritime Music Program
From November 2024 through April 2025, the lively chantey experience takes place in-person at the Seaport Museum’s 207 Water Street program space and virtually via Zoom, allowing you to join from anywhere
In-person Chantey Sings will return in May 2025 and run through October 2025. Check back in the Spring for in-person offerings or reserve your place for the hybrid offering now.
Returning to the deck of the tall ship Wavertree in May 2025, the monthly sea-song sing along, will be hosted by a local artist who will lead the group through a variety of traditional maritime work songs and ballads. Throughout the in-person only event, attendees of all skill levels are welcome to take the stage for this round-robin where you will be able to sing and share the chantey of your choice. Attendees will be encouraged to sing along with the chorus or just sit back and enjoy each performance. Singers of all levels, as well as listeners, will be welcome to participate in this free event where you will be able to lead or request a song during the round-robin or simply listen.
Advanced in-person registration will be encouraged, but walkups will be accommodated as possible. Any in-person attendee will be welcome to lead a song during the round-robin; if you have a specific song in mind, please inform us of the song title when you register. This event will take place rain or shine. In the event of rain, the event will be moved from the main deck to an indoor place on the ship.
Please note that access to Wavertree for this event will involve climbing a few stairs, walking up an angled gangway, and descending a few stairs onto the deck. The lower decks are accessible via stairs, while the upper deck requires navigating steep ladder-like stairs.
About the 1885 Tall Ship Wavertree
Wavertree was built at Southampton, England, in 1885 and, after a 24-year sailing career and circumnavigating the globe at least three times, is now the last remaining iron-hulled three-masted full-rigged cargo ship. Today, Wavertree serves as the iconic centerpiece of the bustling waterfront that shaped New York City into a modern metropolis
Extend Your Visit
Access to Wavertree is included with your event ticket. To extend your visit and see more that the Museum has to offer, ask Museum staff about our Pay What You Wish General Admission tickets when you check in. Before or after your event, between 11am–5pm, get Pay What You Wish General Admission tickets to see more of the Museum.
General Admission includes access to all current exhibitions on view in the introduction gallery space at 12 Fulton Street and access to the 1885 tall ship Wavertree. Free timed tickets for a tour of the 1908 lightship Ambrose are available separately at no additional cost.
The 2024 sailing season will come to an end on Sunday, October 6! There are still tickets available to sail New York Harbor on the 1885 schooner Pioneer and 1930 tugboat W.O. Decker and range from $15–$70.
What is a Chantey Sing?
Old-time sailors on long voyages spent months living together in close quarters with no outside entertainment, no new people to interact with, a monotonous diet, and each day pretty much just like the day before. How did they keep their spirits up? Singing together! Work songs and fun songs, story songs and nonsense songs, songs of nostalgia and songs of up-to-the-moment news—all were part of the repertoire onboard. At South Street Seaport Museum, the chantey tradition lives on.
“Sea chanteys fit in beautifully with the New York tradition,” says Laura Norwitz, Seaport Museum Senior Director of Program and Education. “Sailing ships were a melting pot of languages and cultures, and chanteys and forecastle songs, along with hard work and shared challenges, helped sailors merge into one community. When we sing these songs today—some old, and some updated with up-to-the-moment lyrics—we celebrate our connection with our maritime heritage and also with the community we create by enjoying home-made music together.”
WWFM On a Positive Note – An interview with Captain Boulware
Click below to visit WWFM and listen to an interview with Captain Jonathan Boulware about our virtual chantey sing
Sea Songs, Sea Lives
Join us for a webinar series that explores the lives of diverse groups of sailors today and in history through conversations with singers, sailors, historians, and more.