Page 6. MAINE COASTAL NEWS September 2011 Waterfront News GUNDALOW UNDER CONSTRUCTION AT PORTSMOUTH, NH
PORTSMOUTH, NH – Back in the spring I wrote in Boat Yard News that boatbuilder Paul Rollins of Elliot was going to be assisting in the construction of a gundalow, which would be similar to the one he built 25 years ago. He said that this one was going to be used as an attraction vessel, but they also wanted to take it out on educational cruises. She will be 65 feet in length, powered with a diesel engine and sport a fantail stern. An interesting side note about this project is that much of the wood came from the Charlestown Naval Shipyard in Charlestown, just outside of Boston. While they were excavating around the shipyard they discovered a lot of buried wood. When the Navy switched from wood to iron and steel there was no more use for the wood, which had been placed in the saltwater ponds so they just filled in the ponds. They were able to pick up many of the knees needed for this job. Well, during my last trip to Portsmouth I stopped by Straw- berry Banke to see the progress, which was moving right along. The framing and knees were in place and they had begun planking. Their hopes are to finish this project this fall, but they do not have the total funding as yet.
The Gundalow Company added: Gundalow Company Mission and History Between 1690 and 1900, gundalows dominated the waters of the Piscataqua re- gion. Captain Edward H. Adams (1860–1950), the builder and captain of the FANNY M., the last commercial gundalow, worked hard to generate concern about the health of Great Bay Estuary. His efforts inspired the Piscataqua Gundalow Project, through which a group of visionaries and volunteers built a historically accurate replica gundalow in 1982 that bears his name. Built on the grounds of Strawbery Banke using tradi- tional methods, Captain Edward H. Adams represents 300 years of local maritime heri- tage. Twenty years later, the Gundalow Com- pany was formed as a nonprofit organization to acquire ownership of the gundalow, and to expand onboard programs.
Today the Gundalow Company’s mis- sion – to protect the Piscataqua Region’s maritime heritage and environment through education and action– has never been more important. Our programs – held throughout the tidal towns of the Piscataqua – connect our maritime history with contemporary coastal issues such as water quality, habitat restoration, conservation, and stewardship. About Gundalows
A gundalow is a shallow drafted type of cargo barge, once common in the Gulf of Maine’s rivers and estuaries. The Piscataqua gundalow began as a simple undecked barge, first appearing in the mid 1600s, poled or rowed with long sweeps (oars). From the 1700s into the 1900s gundalows evolved into fully decked flat-bottomed cargo carriers with a cabin and lateen sail that could be lowered to “shoot” under bridges. The sail acted as an ‘auxiliary engine’ since gundalows depended on the tides to take
The gundalow under construction by the Gundalow Company in Portsmouth, NH.
them upriver on the rising tide and downriver on the falling tide.
Gundalows were the equivalent of today’s tractor-trailer rigs, sometimes mea- suring over 70 feet long and 19 feet wide. They could navigate shallow rivers, carrying freight of up to 50 tons between ocean-going schooners and the growing towns of the Piscataqua region. Raw cotton, spices and other goods from around the world were transported from the schooners to area busi- nesses and factories. Farm produce, oysters and fish, lumber, manufactured goods, lo- cally made bricks, native-hewn granite, cordwood and coal were all carried on gundalows.
Built from wood lot timber, most salt- water farmers, fishermen or traders simply built their own. No two gundalows were alike. The FANNY M., launched from Adam’s Point in Durham, NH in 1886 by Captain Edward H. Adams, was the last gundalow to operate commercially in the area. Drawings of
Maine Coastal News 11.5 Btd Diesel Generator
is now entirely online:
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the FANNY M. in the collection of the Smithsonian Institute inspired the design of the new gundalow. Why a New Gundalow?
Since 2002, the Gundalow Company has used the Captain Edward H. Adams – a replica modeled after the last gundalow to carry cargo on the Bay – to provide “dockside” programs to more than 100,000 visitors. But the Adams is too authentic to comply with modern U.S. Coast Guard safety require- ments, and will never be authorized to operate as a sailing classroom.
Recognizing the need to get students of all ages afloat to genuinely connect with their rivers and bay, the Gundalow Company has begun construction on a new gundalow. Looking and feeling authentic, it will have the safety features and structural integrity re- quired by the U.S. Coast Guard for passen- ger-carrying vessels.
For centuries, gundalows connected up-river seacoast communities with Ports- mouth, the region’s seaport and primary market town. Harnessing the wind and riding the tide, gundalows moved bricks, hay, fire- wood, and goods crucial to the economy and everyday life.
The Gundalow Company takes its inspi- ration from the vital role of those historic gundalows, vessels unique to the Piscataqua Maritime Region. This new gundalow’s edu- cational purpose is as important for the future as its predecessors were for the past.
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