Dec 6 2024
Measure to Main Mast of schooner Elsie L
After spending lots of time measuring up what I (Peter thought was the Main Mast, turns out to be the Foremast, Graham and Peter have the “broken” main mast measured. These measurements are a check on ones that Jim did last year.
All looks to match.
Here’s Graham measuring the diameter at the top of the Main Mast, We’ve taken diameters at each place where components go and also measured the distances from the bottom of the mast to each component.
Dec 1 2024
Building Model Boats Workshop for kids
Kids from 3 to teens gathered at the Mahone Bay Center for an afternoon of Building Model Boats.
David, Tim, Bill and Peter hosted a Kids Model Boat Workshop on behalf of the Heritage Boatyard. Dozens of kids arrived and the workshop was full for the afternoon. We had some boat design examples for the kids to get ideas from, but they were not needed the kids were far more creative with their designs than our examples suggested.
Great job by many!
Nov 20 2024
Father Christmas Festival prep for Kids Model Build workshop
Hundreds of components made for the kids to glue together in a few weeks.
Bill, in Peter’s workshop, sanding a box full of model boat components while Dave is at the Boatbuilding Shed cutting more parts for Bill to sand.
Nov 12 2024
Start the Main Mast
Elsie L is at East River Marine ready have her mast carved out of a trunk of black spruce.
Graham keeping an eye on the chainsaw, ensuring it keeps a plumb cut. Bill taking the photo and Peter cutting with a battery operated Makita chainsaw. It proved to be too light to cut more than a few inches. We’ll get a gas chainsaw for next weeks shift at East River Marine.
Nov 7 2024
DAY 1 at the Big Boat Shed
Seraphim School students have moved the sailing skiff restoration of Pintail to Lunenburg for the winter.
Andrew and Richard introduce the students to the Big Boat Shed. Gave them a tour of the facilities and the wooden boat projects, then put them to work cleaning out the skiff.
Then sanded in interior, prepping for deck and rib replacement.
Nov 6 2024
Moving the mast into our winter work area. Lots of hands on deck.
A morning of getting organized for our winter’s restoration of Schooner Elsie L. We gather on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings most weeks. Now that we have our winter dust barrier up we are ready to restore this lovely, local schooner.
Nov 5 2024
Building a 1/2 Hull model of a
Grand Banks Schooner.
In Peter’s workshop, Bill and Tim are sanding the deck of this traditional Grand Banks Schooner.
Learning the skill that wooden boat builders used to help document a vessel design to clients.
Sept 28 2024
Model Boat Building for kids at the Mahone Bay Scarecrow Festival
Kids Model Boat Building was very popular. Filling both picnic tables with young master model boat builders as soon as the event opened. For the rest of the afternoon there was a steady stream of kids building model boats. We also had a skiff in our pond for kids to row around,
A wonderful kids activity, to be repeated at future Mahone Bay festivals.
Aug 20 2024
Heritage Boatyard Co-op directors meeting
Taking advantage of a warm summer evening, the directors of the Heritage Boatyard Co-op meet at the Boatbuilding Shed at Mahone Bay's Marina to review the Mystic Seaport Wooden Boat Show, the Nova Scotia Schooner Race Week and Schooner Elsie L restoration efforts.
Anthony, Dave, Tim, Bill and Darryl hard at work, celebrating Mahone Bay’s heritage!
Aug 20 2024
Schooner Elsie L’s new mast at East River Marine.
Mohsen and Tim working a large trunk of black spruce. Removing bark in preparation to turn this stick into the main mast of the Schooner Elsie L.
Aug 10 2024
First schooner across the line at the 2024 Schooner Race Week
Hosted by the Heritage Boatyard Co-op and the Mahone Bay Marina, the Nova Scotia Schooner Race Week was a great success again this year.
Many thanks to the many heritage wooden schooners, the Nova Scotia Schooner Association and the many volunteers that make this annual event a true treasure in the world of celebration our heritage wooden vessels.
Congratulation to all!
Aug 7 2024
Schooner Elsie L finds it new home inside, thanks to East River Marine.
Today the NS Schooner Rescue Society has Schooner Elsie L inside one of East Rivers storage buildings. Now out of the weather and wind they are ready to start restoration of this beautiful heritage schooner. Along with the NS Schooner Rescue Society members, Heritage Boatyard Co-op members and granddaughter Lydia came to help out.
July 11 2024
An afternoon of Seraphim School student grinding paint of Pintail.
The restoration of the Seraphim School skiff has students grinding away on the bottom paint of Mike Ernst donation. The Heritage Boatyard Co-op is very pleased to host the efforts to restore a local skiff made by the Ernst family in 1952. The teenage Ernst kids build is now being restored by Seraphim School teenagers to be enjoyed by sailing this vessel once again.
July 10 2024
Schooner Elsie L gets covered before storm arrives at East River Marine.
Today the NS Schooner Rescue Society has Schooner Elsie L being covered prior a storm arrival. The Heritage Boatyard Co-op happy to help Jim get the schooner covered. Dave, Peter and granddaughter Betty rap her up. We are looking forward moving the schooner into a covered building. Many thanks to our host, East River Marine.
July 2 2024
Mahone Bay displaying the poster we took to the Mystic Seaport Wooden Boat Show
After a week in Mystic Seaport we return home and displayed the banners that we took to Mystic. We hope to return to the Mystic Seaport Wooden Boat Show in 2026 and make our wooden boat activities and attractions the focus of the Boat Show.
Tourism will be our 2026 focus!
June 29 2024
Start of day 2 at
Mystic Seaport Wooden Boat Show.
Tim, Dave, Peter and Bill ready for another day of promoting Nova Scotia shipbuilding heritage and the wooden boatbuilders that are building and repairing beautiful wood vessels. We hosted a 10’ x 20’ booth filled with banners promoting our wooden boatbuilders, wooden boat activities like Schooner Race Week, tourist attraction like our nautical museums and activities like Schooner Race Week. A very active and successful week.
June 14 2024
Designing the Mystic Seaport Wooden Boat Show display.
After months of talking to all the wooden boatbuilders, wooden boat activities and museums that celebrate our wooden boat heritage we are designing the Heritage Boatyard Co-op’s 10’ deep by 20’ long display booth for Mystic Seaport Wooden Boat Show. This booth needs to be disassembled and fit in a small Ford Maverick truck, along with the banners, promotional materials and three volunteers.
To our amazement it all fit!
May 13 2024
Moved the Seraphim School skiff Pintail from the Boatbuilding Shed to their school for the summer.
The Seraphim School students will spend the summer sanding and stripping the paint off this 1951 skiff as step 1 in restoring her to her original beauty.
Apr 13 2024
Glueing up the stem of the Mush-a-Mush skiff.
Graham laminating the stem of the Mush-a-Mush rowing skiff.
A not so warm day, we milled out a 1/2 dozen strips of oak glued them up to fit into our Mush-a-Mush skiff project.
Apr 9 2024
A day gathering information from our local wooden boatbuilders for the Mystic Seaport Wooden Boat Show
A week of visiting every local wooden boatbuilder to find out what they would like on our Mystic Seaport Wooden Boat Show banners.
We are here at Big Pond Boatworks visiting with Dayna, Pat and Kieth Nelder in Martins River NS.
Apr 8 2024
Glueing up the bottom of the Mush-a-Mush skiff.
Graham & Tim laminating the bottom of the Mush-a-Mush rowing skiff.
A warm sunny spring day to glue up the bottom boards for our Mush-a-Mush skiff project.
Feb 16 2024
Mahone Bay’s Paceship Yacht refurbished by RPS.
In conjunction with the Mahone Bay Chamber of Commerce and RPS the Heritage Boatyard Co-op is building a monument to celebrate Mahone Bay’s ship building heritage. This early 1970s Paceship Yacht is it. Donated to the Co-op and then gifted to RPS it will represent the end of a multi century shipbuilding industry of Mahone Bay.
Feb 18 2024
Drafting the Mush-a-Mush Skiff
A few years back Mike Gray, a local wooden boatbuilder took the lines off a skiff built in the 1950 for the Bruhm family. Today Peter starts construction drawings of the skiff, in his home office.
The drafting table and stool that he is working at were the home office drafting table and stool of William Roue, designer of the Nova Scotia schooner Bluenose. Link to interview with William Roue where he is sitting in the drafting stool resting against his table. Scroll down the link to find the video.
Jan 25 2024
Building Oars Workshop
Building oars for skiff Pintail.
A good project for mid winter. Our Seraphim School students made these oars under the guidance and using to templates from
Sept 6 2023
Workshop on Building a Dory
Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundland & Labrador Winterton NL
Tim, Dave and Peter head to Winterton NL for a week of wooden dory building. Great way to learn the skills of traditional wooden boatbuilding.
June 8 2023
Visit to the Shelburne Dory Shop.
Tomorrow is launch day.
Milton and Cricket busy caulking the garboard seam. The Lowell Boat Shed team is almost done building their dory at the Shelburne Dory Shop.
Week one was the week of the Shelburne forest fire. A sad time for the community with much destruction as smoke rolled out to sea.
June 4 2023
Deliver Hereshoffe Skiff to Chris.
Our Herreshoffe Skiff project is now a retirement project for Chris. Dave and Peter dropped it off at Malega Lake.
June 3 2023
Party at the Boatbuilding Shed
for the Lowell Boat Shop visitors.
Graham, Executive Director of Lowell Boat Shop,
Cricket of Fretwater Boatworks taking a Madeline lesson from Colin.
Colin Otoole of Covey Island Boatworks sharing lobster & smoked salmon sandwiches, served on bread baked by Colin. Colin’s mandolin filled our little shed with music.
Diane and Brad from Fretwater Boatworks on the right.
A nice evening with kindred spirits.
May 30 2023
Plycraft prelaunch, checking for leaks.
In preparation for launch day of our Plycraft David check her over for leaks and we take her for a spin.
Mahone Bay Shipbuilding
The early days of shipbuilding in Mahone Bay date back to the mid-1700s. During this time Mahone Bay developed into a thriving shipbuilding industry that reached its peak in the mid-1900s. Over one thousand wooden vessels of various sizes and styles from dozens of boatyards comprised the industry. At one point the boat building industry reputably employed the majority of the Town.
Boats were built in Mahone Bay to meet the demand of ours and neighbouring communities involved in the fishing, transportation, trade and war efforts. As time changed the days of the wooden sailing vessel yielded to modern shipbuilding. In the early 1900’s there was a demand for recreational yachts and Mahone Bay was the first major builder of high end luxury yachts with Obed Ham Yachtworks. This industry thrived until the mid 1970’s when Paceship Yachts closed. Mahone Bay’s shipbuilding industry faded and unfortunately virtually nothing is left of the shipyards that were once such a vital and vibrant part of the Town of Mahone Bay.
The Heritage Boatyard Co-op is dedicated to preserving and promoting Nova Scotia’s South Shore wooden boatbuilding history.