Liberator from Kings Point

The Liberator is at Boothbay Harbor Shipyard for the winter to investigate and possibly repair the stem, systems work and paint work.

Liberator is a training ship for the US Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, on the north side of Long Island, New York. Kings Point Waterfront is a community of Midshipman Sailors, Rowers, Faculty and Staff dedicated to enriching Maritime Training at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.

The United States Merchant Marine Academy is one of the five United States service academies. It is charged with training officers for the USMM, branches of the military, or the transportation industry.

Midshipmen (as students at the Academy are called) are trained in marine engineering, navigation, ship's administration, maritime law, personnel management, maritime law, international law and customs to the secod and many other subjects important to the task of running a large ship.

2010 ASTA Conference

Todd Kosakowski, of BBHS and Harold Burnham are presenting a New Program Showcase: Restoration of Schooner Ernestina at the 2010 ASTA Conference in Long Beach, CA on board the Queen Mary being held November 15 and 16.  Ernestina was at Boothbay Harbor Shipyard in 2008-2009 for midship, bow and decking repairs.  Ernestina previously known as Effie M. Morrissey has an amazing history involving Capt. Bartlett and later the Cape Verdians.

The Safety Under Sail Forum and the Education Under Sail Forum will follow the conference on Wednesday, Nov. 17.

Ernestina at BBHS

ASTA’s Annual Conference on Sail Training and Tall Ships gathers ships' masters and crewmembers, port representatives and festival managers, public officials, marine suppliers, naval architects, preservationists, environmentalists, program administrators and educators for an inspirational and informational 3-day conference.  Topics concerning vessel operations, regulatory issues, management, educational programming, and safety at sea are addressed each year, as are sessions on media relations, marketing, funding, communications, and port event organization.  Held annually during November, the ASTA Conference on Sail Training and Tall Ships is both fun and informative and offers oceans of networking opportunities.

Solo Sailors Sailing the Seas

The Ultimate Solo Challenge began on October 13, which is divided into five sprints that together will circumvent the world.  There are five yachts and solo sailors in this years race.  Brad Van Liew is the leader in the first sprint, which started in France then around Spain, south, almost off the coast of South America and then back to the southern tip of Africa.  The first sprint ends in November at Capetown, South Africa.

Solo Captains and their Yachts

Not only is this an amazing race but the internet media coverage is fantastic.  On their website is a google map of the day to day movement of each of the sailboats.  There are interviews and updates from the captains of each boat taken from stationary video cameras mounted in their cabins.  Don't you love it when technology makes those adrenaline sports even more exciting!

Leader American Brad Van Liew

HMS Bounty

Arriving from Canada, HMS Bounty will be at Boothbay Harbor Shipyard for yard work from October 18-31. Stop by the shipyard parking lot and you can see HMS Bounty on the large railway in her glorious splendor.
The last time HMS Bounty was in Boothbay was August 2007 when it was launched from the large rail here at the shipyard after extensive work on the fastenings, keel, planking, deck, and framing. Since then, HMS Bounty has traveled to locations such as: Tahiti, Scotland, England etc.

HMS Bounty's Figurehead

From the earliest times the stems of vessels have been decorated with some form of figurehead.

HMS Bounty was originally a merchant ship called the Bethia.
The female figurehead on HMS Bounty is called Bethia, after the name of the original sailing ship. Normally of a buxom shape, with few clothes, the figurehead of a ship was believed to bring luck. It was important for illiterate sailors to recognize their ship and each figurehead was unique.

Bethia is much more covered than most, with a full, modest dress, and even a hat. This is an authentic replica of the original Bounty figurehead, which Captain Bligh described in his journal as, “a handsome woman in a riding habit, well carved.” The figurehead, Bethia is said to be dressed in her riding habit so that her dress would not get wet when she sails over the seas.
Compare Bethia to the figureheads below.

MF Shallop Project

Yes, I said Shallop, not Scallop. What is a shallop? In the 1600’s, the word “shallop” referred to an open wooden workboat such as a barge, dory or rowboat. Shallops were small enough to row but also had one or two sails. The shallop is a European-style boat of approximately 18 feet in length that can be outfitted to row or sail.

The Shallop Project has been a fabulous way to combine new technology and old.
Maine's First Ship began a project connecting community volunteers, fourteen high school students, a science teacher, a shipwright and a media specialist in a two- month project to build a shallop tender that could serve Virginia, the first ship built in Maine by English colonists in 1607, when it is reconstructed.

The students are not only building a boat, but they are learning about filmmaking, blogging, journaling, marketing and public speaking.

The student boat builders are translating the design from paper to wood, figuring angles, cutting and fitting the various pieces to make the boat's framework. Eight oars are also being hand crafted to go with the boat.

Virginia was the first ship built in Maine and believed to be the first ship built by Europeans in the New World. The "Shallop Project" is an initial step towards the goal of reconstructing the Virginia itself,

Students have learned boat building vocabulary and construction skills. In addition, they have developed important skills of teamwork, productive work habits and media skills such as videography, photography and video editing on laptop computers from the MLTI (Maine Learning Technology Initiative). This project was written up in Edutopia, the George Lucas Foundation magazine, one of the most prominent, innovative educational non-profits in the country.

Help support future shipbuilders in Maine. You are invited to the launching in Bath, Maine on Saturday, October 9, at 2:00 at the grey freight shed on Commercial St.

Boothbay Sailmaker Receives Award

Nathaniel S. Wilson, Boothbay Harbor Sail maker will receive the NMHS 2010 Distinguished Service Award from the National Maritime Historical Society. Nat will be honored for his thirty-five-year career as a sail maker and rigger, recognized as the pre-eminent sail maker of traditional sails in the country, if not the world. Some of the ships and yachts that Nat has made sails for have been built or refit here at Boothbay Harbor Shipyard such as: Alera, Valora, Harvey Gamage, Belle Aventure and Discovery.

The Society salutes his extensive record of helping to keep many of the historic and replica ships sailing, such as USS Constitution, USCG Eagle, Sultana, Clearwater, Spirit of Massachusetts, Pride of Baltimore II, American Eagle, Lettie G Howard, Mayflower II, Godspeed and Discovery. Nathaniel Wilson sails are sought after for vessels large and small, from performance and classic yachts to hearty working craft. The vessels that hoist his sails span the history of water navigation, from replicas of Viking ships to modern vessels, and are true-to-form in look, materials, construction, and performance. The Society also salutes Wilson’s support of sail training and maritime heritage educational programs. His reputation of generosity in sharing his craft and its history precedes him: be it for visiting ships, school groups, or middle and high school history teachers, or the impromptu demonstration for the interested visitor who comes by his loft. Click arrow on right side of the following booklet to turn pages.

Open publication - Free publishing - More sails

Professionally Restored 1st Place Winner of Concours d'Elegance

Belle Aventure was the winner of the Professionally Restored 1st Place at the 19th Annual WoodenBoat Show. She was refastened and refit here at Boothbay Harbor Shipyard.

Belle Aventure, a 1929 Fife, designed and built by William Fife and Sons in Scotland, is owned by Mike McCue. Capt. George Moffett, who represented the owner, the Boothbay Harbor Shipyard shipwrights and staff are responsible for the high quality refastening and refit of this yacht.

At the 19th Annual WoodenBoat Show, the boats were divided into three categories: sail, power, and oar/paddle and judged for their quality of construction and restoration, quality and correctness of all on-board systems, and caliber of finish and appearance.

All boats exhibiting at the WoodenBoat Show; on land or in-water, were invited to participate in the Concours d’Elegance to compete for awards in a number of categories. The quality of this year’s entrants was among the best they had ever seen, which made the judges’ choices very difficult. All the winners can be viewed here and in the upcoming September/October 2010 Woodenboat Magazine.

Our own Capt. Dave is now on Belle Aventure and continues to varnish and keep the boat at its best.

One of Best 7 Articles Ever Written in English

Maine's very own Maine's Lobster Festival was the focus of one of the "Seven Best" all time magazine articles, which was written in 2004 in Gourmet Magazine called Consider the Lobster.

Okay, one could obviously quarrel with the choices, but the links alone make this post worthy of a look. A former editor of Wired magazine went looking for the best that journalism has to offer, and cataloged the results according to decade, as well as the number of times a correspondent suggested it.

Trunnels and Topsails

Enjoy a booklet of some of the fabulous ships and yachts that have undergone restoration here at the Boothbay Harbor Shipyard in recent years.