Tour the tall ship Wavertree
Explore the 1885 tall ship Wavertree, flagship of the Seaport Museum fleet. Tours are Included in the Museum’s general admission, visitors are invited to tour the main deck of Wavertree and visit her fo’c’sle head, deckhouse, galley, quarter deck, and captain’s saloon. Learn how people worked and lived aboard a 19th century cargo sailing vessel, from the captain and his family to the ship’s officers, cooks, and crew. Then visit the cargo hold and stand atop our new viewing platform where you can take in the massive main cargo area. Visitors can climb down stairs and travel into the belly of the ship to see the immense cargo hold dubbed the “Cathedral.” Check with a visitor experience associate when you arrive to learn more about seeing the cargo hold.
Wavertree is permanently moored at Pier 16 and does not sail the harbor. Access to Wavertree requires climbing a small set of stairs and an angled gangway.
Click below to learn more about visiting Wavertree
Have Your Next Event on Wavertree
Wavertree is the perfect one-of-a-kind setting for your next event. This historic ship provides a breathtaking setting with unparalleled views of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan skyline.
2015-16 Restoration
In recognition of Wavertree‘s symbolism of New York’s History, the Seaport Museum was awarded a 13-million dollar, city-funded grant for her unprecedented restoration in 2015. This provided the necessary means for her restoration including the completion of her masts, yards, and rigging, the installation of her ‘tweendeck, and the refitting of her iron-hull. This restoration marks the beginning of the next chapter of her life as the flagship of the South Street Seaport Museum.
South Street Seaport Museum
By subway: Take the A, C, 2, 3, J, Z, 4, or 5 train to Fulton Street.
By bus: Take the M-15 SBS or M-15 to Fulton Street.
By water: The NYC Ferry, and New York Waterway provide service to Pier 11. The Staten Island Ferry provides services to Whitehall Terminal.
Parking: Parking lots can be found at Front and John Streets, as well as 294 Pearl Street.
About Wavertree
The 1885 ship Wavertree has a well-documented and fascinating history. Built in Southampton, Great Britain, she circled the globe four times in her career, carrying a wide variety of cargoes. The ship called on New York in 1896, no doubt one of hundreds like her berthed in the city. In 1910, after thirty-five years of sailing, she was caught in a Cape Horn storm that tore down her masts and ended her career as a cargo ship. She was salvaged and used as a floating warehouse and then a sand barge in South America, where the waterfront workers referred to her as “el gran Valero,” the great sailing ship, because even without her masts she was obviously a great windjammer. She was saved by the Seaport Museum in 1968 and towed to New York to become the iconic centerpiece of the “Street of Ships” at South Street. The 130-year-old Wavertree, built of riveted wrought iron, is an archetype of the sailing cargo ships of the latter half of the 19th century that, during the “age of sail,” lined South Street by the dozens, creating a forest of masts from the Battery to the Brooklyn Bridge.