Chris Sanders © Joe Michael/Mystic Seaport Museum
Our friends at Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, CT have appointed Chris Sanders as the new director of the Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard. Sanders succeeds longtime director Quentin Snediker, who will stay on at the Museum in his role as the Clark Senior Curator for Watercraft.
“Chris brings a wealth of ship and boatbuilding experience to the leadership of the duPont Preservation Shipyard,” said Peter Armstrong, president of Mystic Seaport Museum. “He has proven his knowledge and skill during the Mayflower II restoration project and many others since he started here, and I am excited to appoint him to this new position.”
A Connecticut native, Sanders attended the University of North Carolina, where he studied physics and psychology before he began his career in wooden boat restoration and construction. He is a graduate of the apprentice program at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum as well as the International Yacht Restoration School in Newport, RI. He’s worked on restoration projects in six states, and ran his own boat restoration shop in San Diego for several years. He returned to Connecticut to work on Mayflower II. He has served as the lead shipwright in the duPont Preservation Shipyard for the last two years, and lives with his wife, Dr. Megan McCarthy Sanders, and daughter Vann in North Stonington, CT.
As the Clark Senior Curator for Watercraft, Snediker is responsible for providing direction and leadership in the preservation and development of the Museum’s watercraft collection, which presently numbers more than 500 vessels of all sizes, ranging from small rowboats and kayaks to four National Historic Landmarks, including the 1841 whaleship Charles W. Morgan.
Under Snediker’s leadership, the shipyard completed large-scale restorations on the Morgan, the Mayflower II, the fishing vessel Roann, and the steamboat Sabino. He led the construction of the schooner Amistad, which was launched in 2000, and he managed the completion of significant maintenance work on the rest of the Museum’s fleet during his tenure in the position. For more information, visit mysticseaport.org. ■
