Restoration of the

Early photos of the beloved L.A. Dunton show the vessel appearing as gracefully sheered as a seabird. Today at the age of one hundred, the Gloucester fishing schooner is in need of a major restoration. The Dunton was economically built in 1921 of working vessel timbers that had an expected life of 25-30 years. A sign of a weakened vessel’s structure is the loss of shape resulting in the dropping of the ends, known as hogging. The Dunton has hogged 3 feet, 6 inches in her life, but we are committed to restoring the vessel's lovely appearance and full strength.

The Henry B. du Pont Preservation Shipyard is humming with activity. The ship lift is in constant use short hauling our own and visiting vessels. With the steamboat Sabino and the oyster dredger Catherine M. Wedmore currently occupying the long-term sidetracking restoration spot, we were faced with the question of where to place the Dunton for a long-term restoration. While planning the Coronet crane launch in Newport, Rhode Island, in December of 2022 it became apparent that we could use the same lift gear and method for hauling the Dunton, which has been placed at the north end of the Shipyard alongside Hobey’s Dock. The added bonus of placing the Dunton in this spot is re-creating the appearance of a 19th-century shipyard with very large vessels placed onshore for major work.

We reached out to Astro Crane in Boxborough, Massachusetts, to handle the Dunton lift and placement onshore. They proposed two mammoth 600-ton Liebherr cranes to do the lift. Preparation required the Museum to design and construct a concrete pad