Leon Poindexter’s and his crew are preparing the masts and rigging and will raise the masts by June 1.  Return here often to check on the progress.

Leon and his crew began working on preparing the masts and standing rigging for re-rigging Ernestina in mid-April.

The main mast is on the left the old foremast and the new foremast still in the wrapping on the right

Rob and Leon planning out the trestle-trees and cheeks

John working on the locust cross-trees.

By the end of April the new cheeks were on the main mast and the trestle-trees were ready.

Here you can see the top of old foremast on the left and new one on the right. The Spar Shop sent it as it came out of the lathe so you can see how big the upper part of the log was before they shaped the mast. When the new spar is marked for the rigging from the old foremast the top will be cut off to size.

Check out a video of the Spar Shop lathe in action.

Once the cheeks are in place the trestle-trees ate fitted into place

Meanwhile the new foremast is shaped to receive the cheeks

This new foremast was purchased by SEMA and donated to the Ernestina Commission.   This donation was matched 2:1 by funding from DCR’s Partnership Matching Program to pay for the contractors to fit out the masts, repair the rigging and raise the masts.

By early May the top of the main mast had been repaired and was ready for capping

Fitting the cap rings on the repair.

The hardware from the old foremast was removed as needed for use on the new.

Main mast ready for paint

the top of the new foremast is measured and shaped

and the mortise on the foot is ready to fit into tenon in the mast step.

Notice the new mast has been receiving several coats of linseed oil. and the standing rigging is being repaired as needed and coated with pine tar.

Dead eyes and shear poles too

Notice the main mast foot is the opposite of the fore, here's the tenon.

new battens fitted to the main mast for gaff jaws chafe gear.

It’s mid-May and the it’s exciting to see the progress.  Soon those masts will be scraping the sky again.

the lower part of the new foremast had to be reduced to fit the mast step. How? first you make it square, then eight sided ...

then 16 sided and continue to 32 .....

until it's round and will fit the step.

the top of the new foremast is ready for the hardware for stays and topmasts

and the crosstrees are being fitted

Steve is working on the battens for the gaff jaw chafe gear on the new foremast

Crosstrees on the main are nearly finished

all the hardware for the stays and topmasts and the copper on the main are done

the oiled up new mast looks great!

Saturday night Julius Britto and Stephan Platzer traveled to Hingham, MA to present Ernestina’s story to the Landfall Sailing Club, a group of sailors from along the eastern and south coasts of Massachusetts who meet monthly in Weymouth, MA.

Julius explained Ernestina’s current situation and the efforts to get Ernestina sailing again.  Stephan presented  the story of the ship’s repatriation in 1982.  He is the author of “Bringing E Home”, an account of his experience as a crew member for the trans-Atlantic voyage from Cape Verde.   Ernestina, launched in Essex, MA as Effie M. Morrissey, was returned as a gift to the United States from the Republic of Cape Verde.

It was a great evening to celebrate Ernestina.  Thanks to the Landfall Sailing Club for the opportunity.

The New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park

is holding its Annual Volunteer Cleanup

& All American Cookout on Saturday, May 18.

Give Emily a call and let her know you’ll be there!

Members of the Ernestina Commission and SEMA met with students to receive the results of the  latest survey. The Schooner Ernestina Commission and the Schooner Ernestina-Morrissey Association, Inc. commissioned the University of Massachusetts- Dartmouth Charlton College of Business Center for Marketing Research to conduct a second marketing survey this spring to follow up on the information acquired last fall by the first survey.  This survey will be used in the planning for Ernestina’s future operations and programming.

We thank Dr. Nora Garmin Barnes,  Director of the Center for Marketing Research, for offering this invaluable service to Ernestina’s future.

We congratulate the students,  Amy Ingraham, Ashkan Taheri, Patrick Leonard, Joseph Veduccio, and Sanghyuk Nam for their excellent report.   With an understanding of the demand and potential return on the various activities Ernestina might undertake, the Commission, SEMA, DCR and the Ernestina community can then use this information to build a suite of programming that will help ensure a sustainable and dynamic future for a restored, sailing Ernestina.

SEMA supported the Commission again by paying 50% of the Center’s fee.

A GREAT thank you to all the volunteers who worked so hard to get the cover off Ernestina and THANKS to DCR crew Manny and Dave.

DCR Commissioner Ed Lambert told the Ernestina volunteers that they were among 5,000 volunteers in parks across the state.   During this statewide day of service, volunteers worked together to get parks and beaches across Massachusetts ready for summer by cleaning coastlines, clearing trails, planting flowers, painting picnic tables, and more.

Here’s how the day went aboard Ernestina.

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9 am, a beautiful day for getting that cover off

DCR Commissioner Ed Lambert stopped by to thank the volunteers who were ready to get started.

SEMA President Julius Britto started at the bow

The plastic cover came down quick!

From past experience Volunteers devised many ingenious methods to cut the plastic overhead.

Tim Connor had his own variation, Sonny and he made a great team

Chuck Smiler brought his pruning saw!

The saw worked great for the overhead!

Meanwhile Commissioner Fred Sterner and volunteer (former crew) Katie DePrato were oiling the spars up on the pier

cordless drills were handy to remove the countless screws that held together the cover structure

DCR's Dave Pires working on the top of one of the rafters

Once the rafters were removed from the ship another crew stripped the battens that held the plastic.

Spars almost done!

What a difference, it must be spring!

the crew, What GREAT volunteers, THANK YOU!

rafters ready for storage

Great job, The Saturday crew left the rest for Monday

By Monday noon Manny and his DCR crew had removed the aft part of the cover frame

and just the forward section was left

Thanks to the DCR crew and Saturday's volunteers the cover is OFF! It is officially SPRING! and with all the work done this winter the ship looks GREAT!

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The seasonal Park Interpreter position for Ernestina has been posted. The application deadline is May 7.

Visit the official DCR job posting for details.

DCR carpenter Manny Silva and additional DCR winter staff David and Paul have accomplished a lot since the Commission visit in January.

covering boards caulked and painted, bulwarks painted

bowsprit painted

foc'sle hatch, chain box and fore deck bulwarks painted

Fish Hold Hatch reconstructed and painted

Engine Room hatch reconstructed and painted

bulwarks painted

David Pires, painter extraordinaire!

The records of the Schooner Ernestina Commission have recently been preserved in the archives of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).  DCR Archivist Sean Fisher shared with us a copy of the Deed of Gift which you can download and view.

In 1982, after 88 years of fishing and exploring as Effie M. Morrissey and packeting as Ernestina,  the ship belonged to the Republic of Cape Verde.

The Cape Verdean government presented the ship, as a gift, to the People of the United

Sailing off Newport RI in August of 1982

States.  This would not have been accomplished without the efforts of many people around the world, especially the Friends of Ernestina/Morrissey, including many Cape Verdean-Americans, supporters from Cape Ann and members of the Bartlett Exploration Association. Because of her Essex/Gloucester origins the ship was entrusted to Massachusetts.

This is a very significant part of the amazing history of this Official Vessel of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Laura Pires-Hester, Chair of the Schooner Ernestina Commission and Julius Britto, President of SEMA were pivotal in the efforts to repatriate the ship and are still working for the very best future for this wonderful gift.

DCR has announced that the Park Serve Day scheduled for Saturday April 20 has been POSTPONED.  the Work Day has been RESCHEDULED for next Saturday, April 28.  Contact us if you have any questions.

RESCHEDULED for Saturday April 27.

It’s time to get Schooner Ernestina ready for the summer season.

Let’s get that winter cover off!

Please sign up on DCR’s Park Serve Page.

Step #1: “Select a park” –  scroll down and select Schooner Ernestina.

then complete steps #2 -#4  and click submit.

You should get a confirmation email.

Please RSVP to SEMA so we will know how much coffee and donuts to get and so we can let you know if you need to bring any special equipment.

Fun from last year:

See you at State Pier, New Bedford at 9 am Saturday, April 27!  We’ll be done by 1:00 pm.

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