Mystic Seaport Museum is fortunate to have some 400 regularly enrolled volunteers: those who have given at least forty hours of service in the past twelve months, who support our organization throughout the year. In 2017, these volunteers contributed just over 85,000 hours of labor to help ensure our success. Since 1971, there has been a particularly dedicated and productive group of volunteers at Mystic Seaport Museum organized under the banner of the Mystic Seaport PILOTS. For those who may be unfamiliar with nautical terminology, a marine pilot or harbor pilot is a specially trained mariner who boards a vessel as it approaches a port and guides and supports the bridge crew in bringing the vessel safely into the harbor.

Passion, Integrity, Loyalty, Optimism, Tenacity and Service are the tenets of the Mystic Seaport PILOTS who come to the Museum twice each year, in May and October, to roll up their sleeves and work side by side with museum staff on projects throughout the Museum.

The PILOTS program is open to all current members of the Museum who may wish to participate.  They pay a fee, in addition to their regular membership, to participate in the program. This fee covers the cost of meals and some of the materials used to support projects during their weekend. 

Approximately half the PILOTS corps live local to Mystic, CT and choose this program because they are not yet ready to volunteer on a more regular basis. The other half of the corps is made up of Mystic Seaport Museum members who reside too far away to volunteer on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. In fact there are PILOTS who travel from as far away as Florida, Ohio and Maine to come participate in the program.

“….for the last few years I’ve come to admire the dedication shared by members of the PILOTS and the staff who support them….I have so much more respect for what you all do in Mystic.  I love being able to tear apart an old dock and help build the replacement like I did last PILOTS weekend. I’ve learned how to seam a Beetle catboat, shingle a roof with cedar share, and moved so many small craft that I’ve lost count.  Cindy loves working with the archives. The PILOTS program has allowed us to find our own true way of contribution. Thank you to all the folks who contribute to our experiences of the Museum." H. Smith  (Harry and Cindy and their two dogs travel almost 400 miles each way to participate in the PILOTS program)

For many of the PILOTS, who travel some distance, the program has become akin to a college homecoming or family reunion weekend.  Several of the PILOTS who live locally routinely open their homes to host traveling PILOTS and within the corps, there are several groups that gather for dinner together on the Friday evening prior to their Saturday work day. Clearly, the social aspect of the program holds great appeal for many of the participants.

A typical work day commences at 8:00 am with a hearty breakfast after which PILOTS are paired up with staff members and head out to their job sites. The model A Ford coffee truck makes the rounds mid-morning to fortify the corps and encourage them in their efforts. At midday, we gather for lunch and then it is back to work. The afternoon coffee truck brings a special delivery of cookies along with drinks of various sorts. The work projects tend to wind down between 3:00 – 4:00 pm allowing everyone to clean up and change (and perhaps grab an Advil or two), before returning to the Museum for what one PILOT refers to as “Attitude Adjustment Hour.”

Accompanied by “Rock of Ages,” a Dixieland band originally formed by the PILOTS, we enjoy each other’s fellowship along with a cocktail or two. Dinner is served and the evening culminates with a talk or presentation from a senior staff member about strategic programs and projects underway at the Museum. This aspect of the program is also particularly important as it provides the PILOTS with deeper insight into the operation of the Museum and oftentimes a preview of critical strategic initiatives that Mystic Seaport Museum intends to undertake in the future. 

As with any volunteer program, recruitment and retention are critically important. These challenges are exacerbated with a group that meets only occasionally albeit for very intense engagement and whose members are dispersed over a wide geography. 

In terms of recruitment, the program has always relied on the concept of “word of mouth” whereby friends invite friends to participate. This is not a program that we broadcast or market to the full membership so there is a somewhat “clubby” nature to the group.  This is not to say it is exclusive or elitist: there are no pre-conditions to participation neither are there requirements for heightened philanthropy. The success of the program has been through current members inviting like-minded friends and family to come along and join the fun. 

We do have a youth component to the program and though there are three different three generation families who regularly participate, it has been exceedingly difficult to engage more young families largely due to the timing of our weekends which are typically times when youth are heavily engaged in school sports and other extra-curricular activities.

Our efforts at retention are keenly focused on providing meaningful experiences when the PILOTS are at the Museum and also working hard to enhance the social aspects of the program.

“Just a quick e-mail to reiterate what a great experience the PILOTS program has been for me.  Mystic Seaport is such a special place, the people are genuine and committed, and the work is rewarding. I feel especially lucky to have had the opportunity to work alongside Trevor and my fellow PILOTS to not only shape a futtock (ships rib), but to actually move it into position on the Charles W. Morgan (sole surviving wooden whale ship). Fantastic!"  G. Hathaway (George drives just over five hours to join the PILOT each spring and fall)

Additionally, the PILOTS receive special newsletters prior to their work weekends and subsequent to them. These include updates on the work accomplished each weekend, special “behind the scenes” articles and of course lots of pictures of PILOTS hard at work throughout the Museum. PILOTS are also treated as leadership donors to Mystic Seaport Museum regardless of their giving levels.  Consequently, they are invited to VIP events throughout the year and the end result tends to be increased philanthropy from this special group. 

Perhaps the larger challenge in sustaining this vital program is the "jobs" component. Because the engagement is episodic and the skill pool somewhat less than transparent, the staff of the Museum must select jobs that do not require highly specialized skills or have steep learning curves. Our average turnout for our work weekend is 100 PILOTS.  They participate in jobs in every department of the Museum including the collections research center, facilities, shipyard, membership, interpretation, and education. Typical projects include putting cedar shingles on building roofs, rehousing Rosenfeld photo negatives in the photography collection, constructing floating docks for the shipyard, sewing clothing and accessories for role-players, and tending to plants in the greenhouse and on the grounds of the Museum.

Thus the jobs have a tendency to be of the “many hands make light work variety” such as general gardening, painting, light carpentry and general filing and organizing. Then the challenge falls to the program managers to convey to the participants why this work is valuable to the museum. Over time, some longer tenured PILOTS do develop specific skills that then enable project leaders to take on more complex work.

In an effort to deepen the bonds within the PILOTS corps an active steering committee has been established with the goals of growing membership, improving retention, advocating for Mystic Seaport Museum in their home community, reminding fellow PILOTS of the important role of philanthropy in the success of Mystic Seaport Museum, attending to the quality of the PILOT experience during the weekend, and advising the staff leader on ways to enhance and strengthen the program.

One consequence of this is to compel the committee members to meet as many of their fellow PILOTS as they can to solicit feedback during the weekend, which has a homogenizing and harmonizing effort on the whole corps.  Another consequence is that more PILOTS take on the charge of advocacy and arrange for speaking opportunities so Museum colleagues can get on the road and talk about all that is happening at Mystic Seaport Museum, while also drawing attention to the PILOTS program and the wonderful opportunity that it represents.

The PILOTS corps was founded to provide advice and counsel to the leadership team at Mystic Seaport Museum and quickly morphed into an “auxiliary work force” to help accomplish meaningful projects through the organization. The program has also become a wellspring for increased philanthropy for the Museum as these dedicated volunteers have developed a deeper understanding of what it takes to keep the Museum growing and thriving. What could be more inspiring than to walk through Mystic Seaport Museum and be able to point to a new roof, a garden in spring bloom or a vessel with freshly oiled decks and say, “I did that, I made that happen and I made some good friends along the way.” Perhaps the best way to sum up the ethos and the power of the PILOTS is with this quotation from one of the corps:

“Tides of time and waves of change may crash upon our shore, we work to preserve this place, our history evermore.”  S. Hamilton