Join a group of other interested volunteers at Maine’s First Ship’s waterfront boatshed on Sunday, Nov. 6, for the third annual Women’s Shipbuilding Day in Bath. Maine’s First Ship is building Virginia, a reconstruction of the first ship built by English colonists in 1607 at the mouth of the Kennebec. Maine’s First Ship is located on the river side of the Bath Freight Shed on Commercial Street in Bath, just north of the Route 1 Sagadahoc Bridge. Women’s Shipbuilding Day is Sunday, Nov. 6 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

While the original ship was built entirely by men, those involved with Virginia these days are looking to provide more opportunities for women to build the ship. “We enjoy this program,” said MFS Volunteer Coordinator Jeremy Blaiklock of Arrowsic, “It’s a great way to build MFS’s volunteer base.”

Shipwright Rob Stevens of Woolwich likes to tell visitors that Gail Smith, a participant in the first Women’s Shipbuilding Day event, “is our best volunteer, but don’t tell the guys that.” This means showing up on Wednesdays and Saturdays throughout the year to help build the ship. Smith, a retired EMT, hails from Topsham.

Also joining Stevens this year in this program is Isabella Pierson, a graduate of Rockland’s Apprenticeshop program. She is now a furniture maker, teaching woodworking and design at the Apprenticeshop, the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, and the Steel House. In 2007, Pierson also participated, with Stevens, in building a spar for Virginia on the grounds of the Maine Maritime Museum.

Shipbuilding Day participants can expect a brief presentation on the background of Virginia and the colonists who built her. The colony, named Fort St. George, was located on what is now Fort Baldwin in Popham. Operating under the same royal charter as the colony at Jamestown, the Maine settlement lasted only one year, but they built a ship designed for coastal exploration and trade. When the colony folded, Virginia crossed the Atlantic to England, and then made at least one trip to re-supply Jamestown in 1609.

The rest of the day will be spent working on today’s Virginia, a 51-foot pinnace. Currently, volunteers are planking the ship. Other work includes shaping one of the many spars needed to sail Virginia. Participants should come expecting to use hand and power tools, which will be provided.

Maine’s First Ship volunteers state that Virginia is over halfway done at this point, and once she is finished and launched, they hope to offer her for educational and environmental programs, as well as for visitors from near and far to board her and learn about Maine’s 400-plus-year-old tradition of shipbuilding.

“We’re excited about doing this again,” said Stevens. “It’s a great day and we hope all who are interested in what building a boat is like will spend the day with us.”

For more information, contact Orman Hines at (207) 389-2419.