Something old is new again

For many, many years, the sight of schooners under construction at shipyards around this harbor was so commonplace that even today, Lunenburg remains known the world over for her fleets of white-winged sailing ships and the abilities of her marine tradespeople.

The replicas of the Bounty, Bluenose and HMS Rose, the expedition vessel Wanderbird and the world-voyaging sail training ship, the Barque Picton Castle, all sailing today, were crafted by the area’s shipwrights, blacksmiths, sail, spar and block makers. Together, they still make Lunenburg the place to build or refit a ship, and launch a dream.

The Schooner Project, as people around here are calling it, is designed to celebrate this proud part of Lunenburg’s heritage while also creating present-day activity on the waterfront. But it’s in no way a subsidized venture.

Just like the vessels of years ago, construction will be financed by the selling of shares. Instead of banking on the proceeds of the vessels’ catch, however, these shareholders will earn returns upon the schooners’ completion and sale. In the meantime, investors will be contributing to the restoration of The Dory Shop Boatyard as the wooden boat building and repair facility it has been for so long and assisting with a key component of efforts to revitalize the Working Waterfront of Lunenburg.

Fast, able…and beautiful

These new schooners will be beautiful, simple, elegant cruising craft, modeled to sail swiftly and stand up to a stiff offshore breeze.

Built the old-fashioned way, from the half-model pictured here, they will have the outward profile of the classic North Atlantic fishing schooner and will draw upon Maritime traditions best exemplified in the legendary Tancook Schooners, working craft a number of which sail today as yachts and which heavily influenced designers and builders like David Stevens, George Stadel, John Alden and William Roue.

“Our objective is to combine the best of all worlds,” says project director, Capt. Daniel Moreland, “to draw upon the legacy of Nova Scotia’s famous Tancook schooners; respectful appreciation for the sweetest of the Alden schooners; to establish the exquisite profile of the loveliest of the tradition of North Atlantic fishing schooners and to join all this with the swiftness of the fastest, the sea-keeping qualities of the blue-water proven and the onboard comfort of the coziest in the fleet.”

A new class of schooners

This enterprise will also inaugurate and establish a new class of fine sailing vessels that can genuinely compete with one another while racing and will otherwise enjoy the many benefits of being part of a close fraternity of vessels and sailors.

Only the finest materials will be used: white oak, tropical hardwoods, copper and bronze fastenings. And all will be fashioned with the legendary craftsmanship for which Lunenburg and Nova Scotia are well known.

The twin schooner keels are fashioned of Mountain Gormier harvested from the jungles of Grenada by the crew of the world-voyaging Barque Picton Castle, working with officials of the Grenadian Forestry Service. You can view a video - Block and Tackle - of the crew's adventures as they fell this enormous tree, mill it, then haul two 3000-pound timbers through two miles of jungle just to get to a road.

The timbers were then loaded aboard the ship for the 1,700-mile journey north to Lunenburg.



Who's leading the Schooner Project?

Dawson Moreland & Associates is a Nova Scotia company actively engaged in ship rigging, vessel outfitting and boat building in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada. The principles for the Schooner Project are:

• Captain Daniel D. Moreland

An esteemed master mariner and internationally-respected authority on traditional ships, Capt. Dan is CEO of Dawson Moreland and Associates, and is project director for these schooners. Well-known for the design, retrofitting and rigging of the beautiful and seaworthy Barque Picton Castle, and for sailing her on four successful voyages around the world, the captain also spent years in the restoration of famous North Atlantic fishing schooners including the award-winning restoration of the 1894 Schooner Ernestina, ex. Effie E. Morrissey, as well as the 1893 Schooner Lettie G. Howard. In over 35 years of sailing ships and seagoing, he has led a number of award-winning restorations of 19th century wooden sailing ships and consults extensively on the design and operations of sailing vessels.

• David Westergard

Renowned schoonerman David Westergard is leading the design and construction of these vessels. Dave has spent a lifetime in the world of wooden vessels. Growing up in a boatyard on the Atlantic coast led him to sea and then the rebuilds of several awe-inspiring yachts. He has built several exquisite and extremely fast schooners and sloops in this size range and has been featured in Wooden Boat Magazine. Most significant to this project is his fast-as-a-witch Tancook Whaler, the Schooner Son of a Gun, the stunning Schooner Sea Change, as well as the recently launched Kitty Cochrane. Dave also has a rich background in boat yards, vessel construction, inter-island trading and generally getting nautical things done.

Want to get involved?

We’re so excited to be building schooners in Lunenburg again that we want to make this project as accessible as possible. We started things off with a big public twin keel laying ceremony and have also set up a construction blog where you can monitor our progress. And we’ll continue to have public events around significant construction milestones leading up to the vessels launch in 2011.

Meanwhile, if you’re looking for a new schooner, please contact Susan by email or phone us at 902 640-3005.