Another month of running from one end of the state to the other and beyond. I purchased my new GMC truck, which was used with just over 19,000 miles, at the end of October 2023. Well, I have already added more than 52,000 miles to that as of 1 December. This is way more than I want to be doing, and at some point, I hope it lessens a lot. However, to do Maine Coastal News the way I think it should be done is by doing the distribution and visiting all the yards and marine businesses you can every month. How else do you meet the people, find out what is going on so you can write it up?
Of course I have been making more trips to Jonesport Shipyard. Once the lobster boat racing season came to an end, I have tried to get down there every weekend that is not a press weekend and help where I can. One weekend I got to learn to shrink-wrap and another time they had me de-rigging a boat so we could pull the mast. I enjoyed that, but what I enjoy most is helping with Isaac Beal’s CHRISTOPHER. I got to work on the forward deck frames, cut off the frames for the washboards and then remove the transom. After a morning of wrestling six 10-foot pieces of 8 to 10 quarter oak planks for the sharp-risers one does not need to go to the gym. You might need a nurse to help you move the next morning, but it was satisfying seeing progress moving forward. I have been informed that they have several sharp-risers in and the forward deck is done. When the sharp-risers are in they will put new frames in on the starboard side along with a number of planks. The transom also needs to be rebuilt and put in and then she should be solid enough to move to the main shop where there is some heat.
Isaac Beal has been at the yard almost everyday and what information about boatbuilding he is passing onto the workers is indispensable. Alonzo Alley, who heads the Shipyard, has the 25-foot JAY CLARK, which was designed and built by Isaac Beal in 1971. She got moved into the shop a few weekends back and Alonzo started cleaning her up. She had been covered with fiberglass at some point and Alonzo knew that the fiberglass was not adhering in a number of places. When he was underneath her he hit the side of the keel and heard a squishing sound. Knowing that was water, and most likely fresh, he decided to take the glass off the keel. In no time he had most of the bottom stripped off. Unfortunately, the bay was needed so she was covered and placed outside for the winter.
One of the big runs just before Thanksgiving was to the Kellogg Show at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut. I had heard of the show, but and never been as it is for those that own a ship’s store. Now, as owner of Jonesport Shipyard I needed to see what this was all about. Alonzo and his wife Shelby and Ann and I headed south for four days. My plan was to stay in Mystic and go up for the first day of the show and the following day go to Mystic Seaport and then the used book store in Niantic for the afternoon.
The Kellogg Show was well worth the time. We all learned a lot, found some great deals and I figured out I should have done both days. We saw some new products, learned more about existing products and figured out what we might need for the yard’s store. We were there for about seven hours and I was amazed at all the people I met from Maine. It was well worth the time and we definitely will be going back next year.
It was a rainy couple of days, but when Ann and I arrived at Mystic Seaport, the sun was shining. My first stop was the shipyard and was fortunate to get an interview about what was being worked on there, which is in boat yard news. The big project is the rebuilding of the Gloucester schooner L. A. DUTTON, which was hauled out and put on the hard by two huge cranes. They have done some work on her keel and frames, but this project will take some time to complete.
Once through the shipyard we walked around and stopped into a few of the buildings. One that was very interesting was the carving shop, where they are making a sign for the submarine base in Groton and then they will make a figure head of a woman holding a ball and bat. The sign for the submarine base is being done out of foam so that it fares better in the weather. The figurehead of the woman holding the ball and bat is a replica from one of the last vessels launched at Mystic in the late 1800s. What I did not realize is that the arm is made to be removed so when at sea it does not get damaged in heavy weather, which makes sense.
The steamer SABINO (x-TOURIST) was sitting at the dock. What bothered me is that they installed a Diesel electric engine in 2023 so she is only using steam for special occasions. They are a Museum that is supposed to show a vessel with historical accuracy and by adding a Diesel electric engine they have failed. The amount of carbon emission from her steam engine was not significant. She should never have been altered. That would be like adding nuclear power to the whaler CHARLES W. MORGAN.
When we were done walking around the Museum we headed over to the library. I did not have an appointment, but was fortunate to get in and talk to several people about my vessel database. I asked them if they used it and they said they did. It was reassuring that people are using it, but I know that it is not where it needs to be as there is so much more that needs to be added to make it more complete.. I have been reading in the Gloucester Custom House Records into the computer and when on the road, in a hotel, I am proofreading the Custom House records for Barnstable, Massachusetts. Next I will work on the Custom House records of Salem, Massachusetts. When I crash these entries into the files on the vessels built in a specific town it will be interesting to see just how many of them are not recorded.
There is always one stop I do when in Connecticut and that is a visit to the Book Barn in Niantic. We made it over there early in the afternoon and the parking lot was nearly full. I was there about two hours and only came out with two boxes of books. About three quarters of which are either for resale or my sister or mother. Those for resale will find their way to the Wiscasset Antique Mall in Wiscasset this winter. I am amazed at what sells and what does not. I never would have thought railroad books would be a good seller, but they are. Maine, automobiles, motorcycles, marine, photography, cooking, military and Stephen King are the top sellers. I certainly thought that biographies and crime would have done better. I also thought older yachting magazines, pre-1940, would sell, but they have not yet. So, if you are looking for some interesting book to read this winter stop by. I am sure there is something that might be interesting.
