The Effie M. Morrissey will sail again
Capt. Robert A. Bartlett’s old ship getting new mast
The Schooner Ernestina ( formerly the Effie M. Morrissey) is one step closer to sailing the seas once again. The 118-year-old vessel is getting a new mainmast thanks to the fundraising efforts of the Schooner Ernestina-Morrissey Association (SEMA).
“To see it arrive finally, we really enjoyed it,” said Julius Britto, chairman of SEMA.
The mast has been made using a single Douglas fir tree. It weighs more than five tons and is 84 feet long.
You can’t get these things at Wal-Mart, laughed Britto. There are only a handful of shipyards in North America that can still do this work, he said.
To order this one cost SEMA about $26,000. But it’s worth it to get the Ernestina back to its old self, he said.
“The ultimate goal is that the Ernestina sail throughout the East Coast and possibly, “I don’t have any say in it at this time, but possibly to Newfoundland — to show what kind of ship it was, the culture events that surrounded the vessel, the historical exploration that Capt. Bartlett had and its years as a cod fishing vessel in the Grand Banks,” he said.
Then called the Effie M. Morrissey, the schooner started its life in 1894 as a fishing vessel. Famous Newfoundland Capt. Robert A. Bartlett purchased it in 1926.
Bartlett was already well known for his voyages of exploration to the Arctic when he bought the ship, and his fame increased as the legend of the Effie M. Morrissey grew.
Bartlett used his home community of Brigus as his base and main harbour.
After his death, the ship was sold to a captain who used it as a transport between the U.S. and the island nation of Cape Verde.
That country later gifted the ship to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It’s now the state’s official vessel and national historic landmark.
It was used as a teaching vessel, based out of New Bedford, Mass., for several years until it was deemed unsafe in 2005.
Several years later SEMA was formed to raise money to restore the ship. It has collected more than $100,000 so far and has pledges of much larger donations waiting in the wings.
The shipwright supervising the restoration estimates $1.4 million in repairs is needed to obtain certification by the United States Coast Guard and approval to set sail again. SEMA also estimates another $600,000 will be needed to completely restore the vessel.
As for when the work will get done — Britto has his hopes set high.
“We’re optimistic. I’ll always be optimistic,” he chuckled.
“I believe by the fall of 2013 ... we will be significantly on the way or sailing with passengers. I feel we have some good momentum going,” he said.
In the meantime, the next step in the repairs is to install the new mast. That work will likely be done later this fall.
SEMA has also decided to follow naval tradition by placing three coins under the mast when it’s installed.
One coin will be from the U.S., one from Cape Verde and one from Newfoundland.
Catherine Dempsey, on SEMA’s board of directors, has secured a Newfoundland nickel from 1945 — the year of Bartlett’s last voyage on the ship.