Mayflower Replica To Leave Plymouth For Repairs

The replica of the ship that brought the Pilgrims to America has set sail from Plymouth to another historic port in Connecticut where it will undergo a restoration.

The Mayflower II departed Plymouth Harbor Friday for Mystic Seaport for the six-month project. The 57-year-old ship, owned by the Plimoth Plantation living museum, is being pulled by a tugboat.

Plans call for the 106-foot-long ship to arrive in Mystic on Sunday, after stops in New Bedford, Massachusetts and New London, Connecticut.

If the repairs go on schedule, the Mayflower II will be back in Plymouth in May for the summer tourist season. But seaport officials have said it could return to Mystic for additional work over the next two winters to get it in shape to sail in 2020, the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrims' arrival.