BATH — Last year’s dramatic windstorm that knocked out power across the Midcoast had at least one positive outcome — it brought a Bath group working to build a replica of a 400-plus-year-old ship a sturdy mast.
During that storm, a 55-foot pine tree toppled over on the Bowdoin College campus. The campus decided to donate it to Maine’s First Ship, the group building a replica of the 1607 Virginia, a 51-foot vessel built in Maine’s Popham Colony that lays claim to being the first British-built ship in New England, and possibly the country.
Now, the group is one step closer to its goal of getting The Virginia in the water by 2020. Bowdoin also donated two other pine trees
(Courtesy of Maine’s First Ship)
which will be used for the mizzen mast and the bowsprit.
“It’s part of the history of the area and the initial history of the United States … part of our beginning here,” said Lori Benson, a member of the Maine’s First Ship board of directors.
The keel was laid in 2011 on the waterfront at the Bath Freight Shed, and a group of about a dozen volunteers (although nearly 50 are registered) show up to work on the boat every Wednesday and Saturday.
Determining what exactly The Virginia looked like is challenging, but with several artists’ renderings and the work of a few historians, they feel they have a pretty good idea. The work is being done much in the same way it would have in 1607 and involves quite a bit of mathematics to figure out how everything fits together Burchstead said, but this time they at least have the benefit of power tools.
The group has spent more than $200,000 so far and expect to spend another $100,000 or so in the coming years. A recent $250,000 donation from Bob and Diane Weggel will go toward the high costs of maintaining the boat once it is in the water.
Even now, before it is finished, people will walk in and see the ship “and they go ‘wow,’ and they just have to stand there for a minute” and take it all in, Benson said.
Ideally, The Virginia will eventually be used for educational purposes, sharing the history of the Popham Colony, which is in modern-day Phippsburg, as well as the early history of Bath and the rest of Maine.
“It’s part of our heritage,” volunteer Daniel Burchstead said of shipbuilding, adding that it is one of the major occupations on the coast.
In part because of this, Maine’s First Ship is hosting the third annual Women’s Shipbuilding Day on Sunday, an event designed to educate women about shipbuilding and inspire them to join the team. According to Burchstead, they generally have between 20 and 30 women at the event and have added at least one permanent volunteer.
Rob Stevens, the resident shipbuilder and expert, will give a brief history of The Virginia and Maine’s First Ship project and then lead participant in various shipbuilding activities like sanding the new mast and working on other parts of the ship. No prior experience or tools are required. Maine’s First Ship is located on the river side of the Bath Freight Shed, 27 Commercial St.
For more information visit mfship.org or call (207) 443-4242
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