The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum’s shipyard has been busy all winter with the painstaking restoration of the Edna E. Lockwood’s log hull.
The 1889 log-bottom bugeye is the last of her kind, and is a registered National Historic Landmark.
Shipyard Manager Michael Gorman says Edna’s new log bottom has now been fastened to her original topsides, using bronze bolts that shipwrights and apprentices have made from scratch with bronze rods, and soldered nuts and washers. When the entire restoration is complete, workers will have fabricated more than 300 bolts.
She has a new centerboard case, 4 inches thick and lined with 200 feet of copper to better preserve it. She also got new white oak frames and mast steps to keep the two masts in place and handle the load when the bugeye is underway.
The boat’s planking is now underway, with Gorman working at the bow and shipwright Joe Connor handling the stern. The two will then meet in the middle. All of the planks come from Edna’s own leftover logs.
Making the historic bugeye’s new sails will be no small feat, but Traditional Rigging Co. in Maine is up for the task. CBMM chose the sailmaker for its specialty in period sailmaking and handiwork. Sailmakers have agree to document the sailmaking process, and you can watch their progress by clicking here.
Shipwrights at CBMM still need to build new cabin houses and hold hatches, a new deck beam, and of course, painting and sanding. All of the work is being done in full public view at the museum.
Edna E. Lockwood was built on Tilghman Island in 1889. She dredged for oysters through winter and carried freight like lumber, grain, and produce, in the off-season. She worked mostly out of Cambridge, all the way through 1967. She has been at CBMM since 1973.
Her re-launch is set for October 27, 2018, at CBMM’s OysterFest in St. Michaels.
