JAMES CITY -- Jamestown Settlement's Godspeed will be on the move for the first half of this month, providing opportunities to see it while dockside and in the Chesapeake Bay under full sail.

The 17th-century reproduction of one of the three ships that transported the people who founded America's first permanent English settlement to Virginia in 1607 will depart Jamestown Settlement about 9 a.m. Thursday.

It will travel down the James River to Norfolk, where its 13-member crew will participate in the Harborfest maritime festival at Waterside Marina, said Debby Padgett, a Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation spokeswoman.

On Friday from 5 to 7 p.m., the ship will participate in the Parade of Sail among other historical, military, character and work vessels. The Godspeed will be open for free public tours from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, she said.

The Godspeed's Captain Eric Speth said a crew change would take place in Norfolk on Monday before the ship leaves for several days of sail training in the lower Chesapeake Bay. More than 60 volunteers serve at various times on the ship.

Speth said the best place to see the ship under full sail while conducting exercises could be between Mobjack Bay and the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.

"We'll be working with the wind and weather," Speth said. "So we'll be flexible where we go each day."

The Godspeed will eventually navigate the York River to arrive at Yorktown's Riverwalk Landing after 2 p.m. on June 12, Speth said, adding that the overnight stopover is again to switch out crew members and the ship will not be open for public boarding.

The next morning, he said, the Godspeed crew will depart for Cape Charles, on the Eastern Shore, with an anticipated early afternoon arrival.

On June 14, the Godspeed will be open to visitors from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Cape Charles Town Harbor.

The vessel will depart June 15 and arrive in Jamestown Settlement the following afternoon, Speth said.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.