The Mayflower Lines and Sails

The Mayflower was not a passenger ship but a cargo ship. The crew had to work 55 lines and six sails to keep the ship on course. Researchers believe that the ship weighed about 180 tons and was the largest merchant ship of its time. It may have been about 90 feet long. In 1957, a group of English patrons paid to have a replica made of the Mayflower and then have it sailed across the ocean from Plymouth, England to Plymouth, Massachusetts. After the ship reached its American destination, it was given to the United States as a sign of friendship. The Mayflower II has been permanently docked in Plymouth, Massachusetts for more than half a century.