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Renovating Maine's oldest wooden fishing schooner

A crew of five have been busy renovating the Mary E. schooner at Maine Maritime Museum in Bath. The boat is Maine's oldest wooden fishing schooner, built in 1906.

BATH, Maine (NEWS CENTER Maine) -- Maine's oldest wooden fishing schooner is nearing the end of it's restoration project.

The Mary E. Arrived at the Maine Maritime Museum last summer. Since then, Andros Kypragoras and his crew of five have been working on renovating the schooner that was built in 1906 along the shores of the Kennebec River in Bath.

Mary E.'s renovations.

She sailed as a fishing vessel and dragger before being abandoned. In 1960 the Mary E. sank in Lynn, Massachusetts during a hurricane. A bath man bought the boat for just $200 and got her back a float. The museum discovered the schooner in 2016 and decided they would be her new home after renovations.

"It needed a lot of top side work," said Kypragoras. "The previous owner had done pretty extensive boat over the bottom of the boat over the last decade and in sort of multiple phase restoration of the boat, but hadn't gotten around to the top side yet."

Crew works on restoring Maine's oldest wooden fishing schooner.

Bill Green accompanied the crew that brought the Mary E. up the Kennebec River in July, getting the chance to see what Maine's oldest fishing schooner was like in action. Green interviewed Captain Dan Thompson, who is one of more than a dozen who have been in charge at Mary E.'s helm.

"I think it's a rewarding experience to engage with the physical aspect of history on a boat like this, which you can only do by putting up the sails and seeing how she sails," said Thompson.

The Mary E. is scheduled to be finished and lowered back into the Kennebec River in May. She will be docked at Maine Maritime Museum for visitors to board and get a look at fishing history.

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