Spirit of Massachusetts floating restaurant now on land in Kennebunk
KENNEBUNK, Maine — The Spirit of Massachusetts set sail on a brief but spectacular journey Tuesday, Nov. 28, rising from the waters of the Kennebunk River and alighting on its new home on dry land on Western Avenue.
Crews and cranes hoisted the schooner-turnedrestaurant from the river and set it down onto a cradle next to where a new Pilot House dining establishment is being built.
Crowds gathered behind the original Pilot House and on the Mathew J. Lanigan Bridge to watch, with many people snapping pictures and recording video footage on their cell phones. To the casual observer, the crew encountered only one obstacle as the schooner hung slightly above the water, with aquatic plant life clinging to its keel.
“Chainsaw!” someone yelled from the docks. Moments later, a crew member reported to the site with a chainsaw, which was then used to slice off a few tall, thick pilings that stood in between the Massachusetts and its destination.
Sure enough, with those pilings sawn to stumps, the schooner moved over dry land and hovered for a bit longer above its new home before being lowered.
“Nicely done,” one onlooker marveled. “Look at that.”
New Pilot House Restaurant under construction
In addition to the crowds outside, there was one inside, too. On the second floor of the soon-to-be-new Pilot House Restaurant, people gazed through windows and watched the scene unfold.
Back in February, the Kennebunk Site Plan Review Board unanimously approved the site plan for what Kylie Raymond and Nicholas Raymond, of Kyick Holdings, LLC, proposed for their property in the Lower Village. The couple demolished the current Pilot House Restaurant to build a new one along with the relocation of the Spirit of Massachusetts.
For both Raymonds, the review board’s favorable vote was the second one they had received. In June 2022, by a vote of 1,514 to 552, town meeting voters approved the proposed contract zone that Kyic Holdings needed to proceed with the project.
Kylie Raymond could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
Spirit of Massachusetts first arrived in Kennebunk in 2014
The 125-foot Spirit of Massachusetts was built at the Charlestown Naval Shipyard in the state that is its namesake. The schooner’s launch was celebrated during a tall ships festival in Boston Harbor in 1984. From there, the ship served as a goodwill ambassador, sailing around the globe as an educational vessel. It was restored and brought to Kennebunk in 2014 and later became a popular floating restaurant on the river.
The ship’s relocation to its new home on dry land on Nov. 28 was not its first time on the move. The Spirit of Massachusetts embarked on an unexpected voyage in late 2019, when it broke free from its mooring and got carried along the Kennebunk River by a strong current created by recent torrential rain.
The boat surged downstream and into the bulkhead of The Boathouse, a restaurant overlooking the river from the Kennebunkport side. A long aluminum gangway still attached to the drifting boat “stiff-armed” it, forcing it into the rocks, then-Fire Chief Jeffrey Rowe said at the time.