Week of December 3, 2018

Posted on: December 7, 2018

Bristol Marine’s Shipyard in Boothbay Harbor has been busy this week getting Bowdoin situated in her winter home inside building 4 and beginning removal of planking. Moving a 70-ton vessel is no easy task, and the crew, led by Ross Branch, did an excellent job getting Bowdoin settled.  With the vessel situated in a climate-controlled building the shipwrights got to work identifying and removing the 18 planks that have been categorized for replacement.  Bowdoin has a total of 185 planks, and as of Wednesday three planks have been removed from the lower strakes of planking. Bowdoin is fastened with trunnels and ship nails, and so far we have been pleased with the condition of both. U.S. Coast Guard personnel made a visit on Tuesday and were happy to see that MMA is taking the initiative to maintain Bowdoin to the highest standards. We will be working with the Coast Guard inspectors throughout the project to ensure that all work is completed to their satisfaction. Other work completed includes removing the rudder for access to inspect the horn timber.

All the best,

Captain McLean