Built in 1973, the 130-foot schooner Harvey Gamage is back in the water after a 14-month refit, ready to return to her mission as a platform for educational programs.
Managed by Ocean Passages, the schooner is preparing for her maiden voyage from Key West to Cuba as part of a four-month educational mission.
We found this nicely produced video, made while the crew completes final preparations after an arduous refit.
“When we got on the boat in Portland, she was like a floating job site,” says one crewmember in a voiceover showing the tired-looking boat they have since revived. “She had been in rebuild for so long, it was like everyone had forgotten that eventually she was going to have to be a boat again, and as the crew got on, it was almost as if you could feel the life coming back into this boat.”
The refit follows a change in ownership for the ship, which calls Damariscotta, Maine, its homeport.
The schooner was one of the last boats built by its namesake, South Bristol, Maine, shipbuilder Harvey Gamage, who was the owner-operator of the Gamage Shipyard in South Bristol from 1924 until his death in 1976, according to a report by The Lincoln County News.
Follow the progress of the ship and its crew on Facebook and Instagram.
