I have been photographing the Ernestina-Morrissey project for about six years. For those unfamiliar with the project at Bristol Marine (formerly Sample’s Shipyard), the Ernestina-Morrissey measures 152 feet long to the spar and is 24 feet wide. It draws 13 feet of water, is 120 gross tons, carries almost 8,000 square feet of sail, was built as a sailing schooner for deep sea fishing, and was originally christened Effie M. Morrissey.
It was built in 1894 at James and Tarr Shipyard in Essex, Massachusetts.
In 1913, the ship was purchased by a Newfoundlander, Harold Bartlett, who used it as a fishing schooner. In 1925, he sold it to his brother, Captain Robert Bartlett, considered the greatest ice captain of the 20th century. Robert had an engine installed and reinforced the hull for Arctic ice. Bartlett undertook yearly Arctic voyages for 20 years with teams of scientists who collected data from a number of Arctic sites.
The group photo I've shared this week was gathered to recreate portions of Captain Bartlett's life and experience. Ricardo Lopes of New York-based Voyage Digial Media is working on an epic documentary for the National Maritime Historical Society. During his most recent visit to Maine, he assembled a group of local volunteers to help recreate specific parts of Bartlett's life for “Sails over Ice and Sea, the Life and Times of Ernestina-Morrissey.”
Some of the scenes for the filming were set on board the ship with Steve Hewins (Capt. Bob Bartlett) and Nat Wilson (Commander Alexander Forbes) during the military's use of the Morrissey. The group shown here was instrumental in the recreation of other periods of Bartlett's life, which ended tragically after he contracted pneumonia during the spring of 1946, after his final trip to the Arctic aboard the Morrissey in 1945. Lopes, along with several accompanying professionals, staged the remaining scenes at Boothbay Railway Village, including Bartlett's hospitalization and accident while walking the streets of NYC, presumably depressed and drinking.
The creative individuals shown in the photo, from left to right, include, Alessandro Lopes (Director of Photography/editor), Larry Burrage (historic vehicle mechanic at the Railway Village Museum), Zach Settewongse (camera man/drone operator), Steve Markowitz (director of the Railway Village Museum), Ellen Lutter (costume designer), Steve Hewins (Capt. Bartlett- former President/CEO of Hospitality Maine and executive director of Hospitality Maine Education Foundation), Emma Markowitz (local high school student), Kathy Hewins (former partner in Hewins Travel), Chuck Vaughan (former historic vehicle mechanic at the Railway Village) and Ricardo Lopes, owner and chief creative at Voyage Digital Media.
The completed documentary is hoped for in about a year. The launch of the Ernestina-Morrissey is set for spring of next year.