March 2013 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 19. N a u t i c a l B o o k R e v i e w


collections and spent hours and hours doc- umenting each and every item that has come to the Museum over the years.


Maine Maritime Museum celebrated MAINE & THE SEA


50 YEARS OF COLLECTING AT MAINE MARITIME MUSEUM


By Dr. Charles E. Burden and Nathan R. Lipfert


Pages 143; 2012; $30.00 Maine Maritime Museum, Bath


Back 50 years ago there was a vast amount of maritime material hidden in the attics of Maine coastal homes. Several people in Bath had the foresight to create an exhibit to show some of these great treasures and a few of these people thought why an exhibit, it should be in a museum and thus the seeds were sowed for the now Maine Maritime Museum.


One person instrumental in the for- mation and the success of Maine Maritime Museum is Dr. Charles Burden. Had it not been for his love of maritime history many of the artifacts at the Museum might have been lost to the public. Charlie has spent hours and hours searching out the artifacts of our maritime past. He has created relationships with maritime families and their trust has gained him numerous special items. He has also built relationships with those that sell maritime antiques and this has allowed him to keep those items purchased in the public domain. Few realize just what Charlie has accomplished over the years, but future generations will certainly be thankful for his love of maritime history and the collecting he did.


Nathan came to the museum more than 40 years ago and he has an equal love of maritime history. He has searched out


Clearance Sale on Parts and Accessories!


WE ALSO DO: · Fiberglass Repair · Detailing · Bottom Paint · Varnish · Repair of All Makes


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anniversary last year and with it Charlie and Nathan compiled a book telling about some of the more interesting items they have been given and found over the 50 years. The fi rst item in the book is blocking mallet or maul. There is a description saying that due to its size it is likely a maul, and could have been used to knock out the block- ing under a vessel before she was launched, but more likely it was used in block mak- ing. You will read about a time clock from the Hyde Windlass Company; pieces of the 5-master CORA F. CRESSY; canvas steering wheel cover; numerous paintings photographs and models; several small boats; a Liverpool pitcher of the Portland Observatory; whale tooth scrimshaw from whale ship WISCASSET; caulker’s seat/ tool box; manuscripts; fi gureheads; fl ags and burgees; punch for metal hull sheathing; make and break Kennebec engine; a rat trap; ship’s medicine chest; chart chest and my favourite a triple expansion steam engine to name just some of the items discussed. They also talk about the bigger collec- tions: such as the Harold M. Sewall, Hough- ton Fairburn and Burden collections, which have been donated to the Museum over the years.


their 50th


There are more than 21,500 items in the Maine Maritime Museum’s collection and this book tells stories of just a few. I am sure they had a hard time picking which items made the book, but the stories they did tell are very interesting and makes for a great read


COYOTE LOST AT SEA


THE STORY OF MIKE PLANT, AMERICA’S DARING SOLO CIR- CUMNAVIGATOR By Julia Plant


239 pages; 2013; $25.00 International Marine Camden, ME


My fi rst introduction to singlehanded round the world racing came when I was covering the construction of Dick Cross’ AIRFORCE at Southwest Harbor in 1985- 1986 for the 1986-87 BOC. That took me to Newport, RI and there I met some of the other competitors, one of which was Mike Plant from Minnesota on AIRCO. I covered


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200 Maine Street, Brunswick www.bamforthmarine.com


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him through this race, as well as in the fi rst Vendee Globe in 1989-90, when he was dis- qualifi ed for receiving assistance; his second BOC and when he was lost mid-Atlantic when crossing to compete in the second Vendee Globe in 1992.


I interviewed Mike several times and was at the launching of his last racer COY- OTE at Portsmouth, RI. While following Mike’s racing career I heard about some of his earlier exploits. I remember being told about him walking through South America


and being arrested in the Azores while qual- ifying for his fi rst BOC. He was charismatic and had a real passion for racing around the world. However, when I began reading his sister’s account on Mike’s life it was proof that I truly did not know him well. Mike was born in 1950 and grew up at Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota. His father was a successful lawyer and the family did lack for anything. Growing up on a lake,


Continued on Page 23.


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