The Sea Lion is an absolutely beautiful little wooden ship. I called it a pirate ship because that is what it looks like when you approach it. Right now it is merely a ghost ship that sits their on the shore. A while back ago the ship was used for tours on Lake Chautauqua  which charged $25 to sail on board and $3 to tour this 65ft long ship with mast up to 58 feet in height. But due to financial difficulties the group sold the ship to the Buffalo Maritime Society for $1. It sat in the Buffalo Harbor and finally sank in a devastating storm. It sat on the bottom of lake Erie for nearly 2 years before divers were able to resurrect it back to life. 

The ship is a replica of the 16th century Sea Lion and 1000s of dollars were put into years ago as New York farmers John Cheney and his friend Ernest Cowan built this ship in the late 1970s. They even cut their own oak to construct this replica along with 3 mast made out of pine. Now Cheney has started the Sea Lion Foundation group which will restore her they are taking donations and gathering help from various sources to paint her, fix and treat the rotted wood, and mast to have her one day sail again. 

We were very lucky to get on board this old vessel more or less it was alot of fun just sitting climbing up to the bow and stern, and sitting below deck on a old wooden bench it almost made me for a brief moment what it would be like to be a pirate and find buried treasure. But the real treasure is to be able to be on board such beautiful piece of history. Everybody loves ships and sometimes if you are lucky the haunts come with them. The question that we must ask our selves is will she sail again in the near future or is this ship destined to sink again where the pirates of the old Sea Lion can haunt its decks?

Copyright By

Rick-AngelOfThyNight