CHANGE MY LOCATION
Martha Lewis racing to April relaunch
SEE THE LATEST ON THIS STORY
Related Topics: Havre de Grace, Md.
)
Shipwright Capt. Mike Vlhovich of the Coastal Heritage Alliance re-fastens some of the bottom boards of the skipjack Martha Lewis which is in dry dock at the Tidewater Yacht Service in Port Covington.
Havre de Grace, Md. (Map, News) - Havre de Grace's Skipjack Martha Lewis will likely return to the water in time for her first scheduled tours in April, thanks to donations and a line of credit from a Bel Air bank.
Initially pulled from the water for routine repairs in Baltimore, the 50-year-old oyster dredger-turned-touring classroom needed far more extensive and expensive work. That led to a massive fundraising drive by the Chesapeake Heritage Conservancy, which owns the Martha Lewis.
Donors covering the estimated $35,000 in repairs ranged from a few people who wrote checks of more than $1,000 to a 7-year-old who had cruised aboard the Martha Lewis last summer and sent the entire contents of his piggy bank, $1.53, Conservancy Director Cindy Beane said.
“He matters just as much to us as the people who gave $1,000,” Beane said.
Though the Conservancy was short about $20,000 at the beginning of February, donations and a line of credit from Bay First Bank cut the bill down to about $8,000, she said. If the remaining repairs go according to schedule, the Martha Lewis will return to the water April 10 and give her first tour to 25 North Bend Elementary third-graders on April 16.
“We might be slapping paint on her while she's in the sling, but she has to be in the water on the 16th,” Beane said. “We don't want to tell a bunch of third-graders they'll have to go to school that day.”
Repairs to the bottom of the boat are expected to finish this week, Captain Greg Shinn said. Crews will cover the bottom in barnacle-resistant paint, then every available worker will help the following week to put the 32-foot-long, 400-pound sideboards into place.
Even once the structural work is done, the vessel must be in the water by April 12 in order to allow its outer hull to soak up water. Designed almost 100 years ago without any seals between the planks, skipjacks rely on the wood's natural swelling to make the vessel watertight, Shinn said.
“We're certainly going to be finishing under the gun,” Shinn said.
msantoni@baltimoreexaminer.com
Comments from Examiner Readers
7:34 PM MST on Mon., Apr. 28, 2008 re: "ARA Libertad launches Sail Baltimore"
Report as inappropriate
10:34 AM MST on Fri., May. 25, 2007
re: "ARA Libertad launches Sail Baltimore"
Report as inappropriate
5:23 AM MST on Thu., May. 24, 2007
re: "ARA Libertad launches Sail Baltimore"
Report as inappropriate
Peter Napier said:
Libertad is presently visiting Cape Town and will spend a week here. A truly beautiful ship and a limk with the maritime past of this city.
2 agree | 2 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
Baltimore has a lot to do with Argentine Navy. During Argntine independance, almost 30 ships sailed from Baltimore under United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata flag, in aprivateer war against spain.
201 agree | 182 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
What a beautiful ship, and what a wonderful thing this Sail Baltimore is. Thanks to those who got it in our city.
167 agree | 190 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree