There is so much going on at Boothbay Harbor Shipyard, it's hard to fathom.
A great old sardine carrier, Glenn-Geary, is being checked out for repairs. It has seen some hard times and I'm sure with nautical TLC new life will visit her old bones. Parts of the boat are being probed. How much of the keel needs attention? How good is the hull? New fastenings? New planks? Whatever it takes. I hope we will get to see Glenn-Geary make a miraculous recovery. There are folks at the shipyard who can get it done.
Maybe you need some work done on docks. Perhaps a bridge to rebuild. A railway to replace. The familiar old Rideout floating construction site now supports a vast array of shipyard equipment. The red Bucyrus-Erie dragline, as we used to call them back in coal country, gleams in the sun. It can be used to dredge, or swing beams and logs into precarious positions. Heist a float, deliver a run, or sink long “legs” into the mud to set up a work platform.
Look further to the smaller railway and big repairs underway on Ocean Venture. Sandblasting, shaft out, deck welding, updating. The improvements listed by crewman Sam Fuller are myriad, but necessary and doable. The dock is alive with activity. Big curtains surround the vessel. Workers move equipment to and fro with service trucks crisscrossing through the entrance to the yard.
A Navy tug inside Building Four is getting overdue attention — prepping surfaces, new paint, engines out. An all-metal project with cranes and wenches screeching and pivoting — workers squeezing tools into tight spots.
Senator King popped in for a visit and got an eye full. The Ernestina-Morrissey project, well underway, occupies the main railway. King was impressed and said so. The yard's owner and president beamed with pride, with new projects in the works. Pauline Dion shared plans and ideas for the Sea and Science program.
It was an amazingly stimulating swirl of business. And I didn't even mention all the boats ready to exit winter storage. Phew! Lots going on.