Page 10. MAINE COASTAL NEWS January 2017 Waterfront News Maine Maritime Museum to Acquire Historic Schooner MARY E.


BATH – At a December 15 meeting, the Maine Maritime Museum Board of Trust- ees approved the acquisition of the historic schooner Mary E, believed to be the oldest Bath-built wooden vessel still afl oat. She is also the oldest fi shing schooner built in the state of Maine that is still sailing. “Since the museum’s board approved


the acquisition of this historic vessel, word has spread quickly. So many people have commented about the incredible gift this will be for the state of Maine to return this beautiful schooner to the place where she was built. We could not be more excited to restore and preserve this beautiful and sig-


Mystic, CT — Mystic Seaport will open its newest exhibition, SeaChange, an explora- tion of the theme of transformation through select maritime artifacts, on December 10. The exhibition will be the inaugural instal- lation in the Collins Gallery of the newly constructed Thompson Exhibition Building, which opened this past September. SeaChange will present a range of strik-


ing, surprising, and unusual objects drawn from the rich collections of Mystic Seaport. Some of these intriguing artifacts will be on display for the fi rst time, others may not have been seen for many years, but all are presented in a new setting with surprising stories. Each is a survivor of the past that speaks to a notable transformation – in mate- rial, technology, the sea itself, or the broader American culture over the past 200 years. “In creating this exhibit, we were drawn


to pieces in the collections that are visually compelling and that tell stories about people, places, and events far from our own that nev- ertheless resonate today. They speak to the human transformation of natural materials, to massive shifts in technology, to changes in the natural world, and to the personal changes – metamorphoses even – caused by contact with the sea,” said Elysa Engelman, director of Exhibits at Mystic Seaport. “We hope the visitor is similarly transformed by the rich narratives these artifacts tell and leaves the exhibit moved and inspired to learn more.” SeaChange is organized around ten pri- mary objects. Together, they give glimpses


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nifi cant symbol of Maine’s past,” said Amy Lent, the museum’s executive director. Built in Bath in 1906 by shipbuilder


Thomas E. Hagan (in a Houghton shipyard where BIW is today), and restored in Bath in 1965 by William R. Donnell II (on the grounds of what is now Maine Maritime Museum), Mary E is a two-masted clipper schooner with a sparred length of 73 feet. This is the last of 69 vessels built by Hagan and representative of the type of vessel that would have been seen all over the coast of Maine in the 1900s. Mary E will be delivered to the museum in spring of 2017, and the restoration work


Mystic Seaport to Open "SeaChange"


into people’s lives in diff erent places and times, from scientifi c surveyors charting the Atlantic coast on the eve of the American Revolution to western merchants trading for silk and tea in 1850s China, from Artic explorers to laborers harvesting bird guano off Peru for American farmers. They touch on a full range of human concerns, from foodways to family, art to science. In keeping with the bold design, clean


lines, and natural materials of the Thomp- son Building, the exhibit design uses large, free-standing abstract structures evocative of sails or icebergs to frame each central artifact, taking advantage of the soaring heights in the Collins Gallery. The overall eff ect is visually stunning, an inviting space that entices visitors to contemplate, discov- er, discuss – and return to the exhibit. SeaChange extends the sensory ap-


proach beyond the visual with more than a dozen custom-created interactives. Among them, visitors will have the opportunity to: Peer through a scope at various “dazzle” ship camoufl age designs from World War I to see which is most visually disruptive to a submarine commander; Use an endoscope to see inside the detailed interior of an 18th-century ship model; Tap to smell the scents related to one of the more curious cargoes of the Pacifi c trade; Listen to experts from a range of fi elds relate the backstories and answer common questions about each primary artifact through video touchscreen programs. The exhibit will open to the public at 10


a.m. on December 10 with a special Museum members preview at 9 a.m. SeaChange was designed by the Mc-


Millan Group of Westport, CT, and the au- dio-visual and interactive programming was produced by Trivium Interactive of Boston, MA.


The exhibition is the centerpiece of


the Museum’s initiative to increase its year-round, all-weather off ering to visitors. SeaChange will be open into fall 2017.


The MDI Lions Club would like to thank the fishermen who donated lobsters for the Annual October Festival in September:


Justin Sprague F/V BLACK VELVET Colton Sanborn F/V MOMA TRIED Justin Lee


F/V GAMBLER


Shawn Kelly F/V TUCKER BAILEY John Chipman F/V BRYCEN/ELYZA


Offices in Rockland, Camden, Belfast and Southwest Harbor. Personal Service | Experienced Team | Client-Centered Solutions | On Land or at Sea AllenIF.com/marine (800)439-4311 Owner,Vessel,Fleet orCrew | Serving Maine people and their boats since 1866. Marine Insurance MARY E has been running cruises in Connecticut since 2006. Photo courtesy of Matt Culen.


started by her current owner, Matt Culen of Pelham, N.Y., will be completed on the museum’s campus, giving the public the opportunity to witness historic shipbuilding techniques fi rst hand. “Ownership has its toils and joys. But


I never felt more on top of the world, than standing aloft on the cross tree of the Mary E and sailing in a fresh breeze,” said Culen. Following completion of the work,


Mary E will be docked at the museum, serving as a historic vessel accessible to everyone. Mary E will also serve as the ambassador of Maine Maritime Museum and the City of Ships, traveling to events up and down the coast. “This is a vessel of remarkable impor-


tance, despite its modest size,” said Senior Curator Nathan Lipfert. “We have compiled a list of historic Maine vessels that are still extant, and there is nothing older, or better, that is available to us. I am very excited about Mary E becoming part of the historic collection of the museum, and I am looking forward to continuing research on her long history.” The museum will soon be launching a


major fundraising eff ort to support the res- toration and continued preservation of Mary E.


A brief history of Mary E Mary E was built in Bath in 1906, by


Thomas E. Hagan. For 38 years she was operated as a fi shing and trade vessel out of Rhode Island. Her original four owners were William A. Dunn, Dwight A. Dunn, Curtis S. Dunn and Jesse Lewis, all of Block Island. For 38 years, these four men oper- ated the vessel, mostly in the fi sheries, but some years licensed for the coastal trade as


well. Later owners told stories of her being used to carry mail and passengers, and as a rum-runner during Prohibition. In 1944 the Block Islanders sold Mary


E to Edward P. Gleason of Gloucester who used her as a dragger. He fi shed her out of Gloucester before selling her to Clarence W. Leveille in 1950. Leveille continued fi shing her out of Gloucester, but abandoned the vessel in 1960, and she sank in a Thanksgiv- ing Day hurricane in 1963 in Lynn Harbor, Mass. Two years later, William R. Donnell II


of Bath, great grandson of shipbuilder Wil- liam T. Donnell, responded to a newspaper ad listing the “half sunken fi shing schooner” for sale for $200. Knowing his great-grand- father had been an associate of Thomas Hagan, Donnell could not resist purchasing the vessel and raising it. He brought it to Bath and began a two-year renovation on the grounds of what is now the Maine Maritime Museum campus.


Following her restoration, Mary E was


used as a passenger vessel in the Maine Windjammer Fleet. In 1971 the vessel was sold to Robert


Morse of Morse Marine in Boothbay Harbor, and later to infl uential jazz musician Teddy Charles who sailed her to New York where she was one of the fi rst schooners sailing out of South Street Seaport. In 1990 Captain Charles moved her to Greenport where she was purchased by her current owner, Matt Culen. He purchased Mary E in 2006 and began a major restoration eff ort, moving her to the Connecticut River Maritime Muse um docks where she has been running river tours every summer since.


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