Mary E sailing into Bath, Maine.
One year ago, we posted that the schooner Mary E., the oldest surviving fishing schooner built at Bath, Maine would be returning home to the Kennebeck River where she was built in 1906. The Maine Maritime Museum purchased the schooner from her previous owner Matt Culen of Pelham, N.Y., who has been operating the vessel in partnership with the Connecticut River Museum, in Essex, CT.
On April 23, 2017, the Mary E. returned to the port of her birth and new home a the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath. Now the real work has begun. The museum has committed $2 million to restore the schooner and to allow her to carry passengers.
The 73′ schooner was hauled out of the water at Robinhood Marina in Georgetown and trucked by land to the museum’s Percy & Small shipyard to a new pavilion built for the restoration. Progress has already been made. Considerable planking is underway as is the fashioning of new deck beams to replace those damaged by rot. The engine has been pulled for service. The transom is being rebuilt and the stern is being raised and reframed. Click here to follow the progress in the reconstruction of the old schooner.