Ernestina Returns Home

The historic fishing schooner Ernestina is returning to its home port of New Bedford after a nearly yearlong restoration project.
The 115-year-old vessel will leave the Boothbay Harbor Shipyard in Maine on Tuesday and travel under engine power to Gloucester and Boston, before arriving in New Bedford Harbor on Saturday May 9, 2009, where a welcoming ceremony is planned.
The state-owned vessel spent 11 months in Maine having planking and decking in the bow section of the hull above the waterline replaced. The restoration was funded by $500,000 from a Save America’s Treasures grant, $500,000 from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, and private donations.
The Ernestina was built in Essex in 1894 as a Grand Banks schooner.