The Birth and Rebirth of the L.A. DUNTON by Dana C. Hewson, Shipyard Director, Mystic Seaport Museum
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NANCY D'ESTANG PHOTO, COURTES Y MYSTIC SEAPORT MUSEUM.
The big, able schooner dominates the skyline at Mystic Seaport Museum (at left), her starkly simple rig towering over the worldgirdling square rigger Joseph Conrad (left) and matching the height of the royal mast ofthe Charles W. Morgan (rig ht).'Above,she cruises under easy canvas on Georges Bank off Cape Cod in 1928. COURTESY MYSTIC SEAPORT MUSEUM .
Among the major vessels preserved at Mystic Seaport Museum is the L.A. Dunton. She, like the Joseph Conrad and the Charles W. Morgan, is an outstanding example of restorations of our maritime heritage. The L.A. Dunton was launched in March of 1921 , a product of the famous Story Yard at Essex , Massachusetts. She was built without an engi ne but provisions were built in for a later installation . These included a shaft log and propeller aperture. We believe her first engine was in stalled two or three yea rs after she was launched . She fished out of Massachusetts unti I 1934 when she was sold to G&A Buffet of Grand Banks, Newfoundland. In Canada she saw service as a fishin g vessel and later she carried freight. She remained in Canadian ownership until 1963 when the Seaport acquired her. At that time, Mystic Seaport 's Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard did not exist, and major restoration work had to be done in commercial shipyards. Before ever coming to the Museum she went to the Thames Shipyard in New London for restoration work. At that time the stern was rebuilt to its earliest confi guration and the whaleback house was removed. In the fall of 1972 work was begun at the Seaport retopping the ship from the break beam forward. The forward portion of the deck was also renewed at this time. This work was accomplished with the ship in the water under a temporary shed . She was rerigged and put back at her regular berth for the summer of 1973. The LA. Dunton was hauled at the Seaport for the first time in 1975. At thi s time she was retopped from the break beam aft with her aft deck being replaced at the same time. During two subsequent haulouts she has been rebuilt below the waterline at both her bow and stem. The foe 'sle and aft cabin were also restored during thi s period. When a restoration is undertaken, one of the first deci sions made is the restoration target date. Once this has been dec ided , research focuses on the appearance and construction of the vessel at that date. We have a great deal of information about the LA. Dunton in the period 1922-1923 and therefore we
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have chosen that time period as her restoration target date. The ship is exhibited without an engine since her first one was not installed until after that date. The Seaport goes to great lengths to make its watercraft restoration and maintenance work accessi ble to the public. The Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard is open to the public and visitors are perm itted to wander about the lift dock, lumber sheds, and sawmill area. There is also a visitor 's gallery overlooking the interior of the main shop from which small craft restoration and construction may be viewed. Visitors we re, for example, able to see the ten dories for the Dunton be ing built from thi s gall ery. When portions or al l of a boat or ship must be enclosed in a temporary shed , the public is either allowed inside the building, or plex ig lass panel s are used to allow viewing from the outside. This approach gives the public a chance to see first-hand watercraft construction and restoration. The restoration of the L.A. Dunton has been an ongoing project for several years and will continue for several more. Most recently we have installed a donkey engine with windlass drive gear which should be operational by spring of 1989. Because we have a first class restoration facility and staff, we are ab le to refine our restoration projects as research is completed, and nearly every year more work is done which brings the L.A . Dunton, as a whole, closer to her restoration target date. We also have control over the quality of material and workmanship involved in our projects, which is of spec ial importance as traditional ways of doing things die out in the general economy . Any benefit which is lost due to having one of our ships temporarily undergo ing restoration (downrigged and tom apart), is more than made up for by the opportunity thi s affords the publi c to see the work being done. w
Mr. Hewson is director of the Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard at Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut. SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1989