For onlookers who gathered near the south dock at Mystic Seaport Museum, it was quite a spectacle. Two enormous cranes slowly lifted the 123-foot schooner L.A. Dunton completely out of the Mystic River on Tuesday and carefully set it down on dry land. It’s the first step of a multiyear renovation project that will restore the vessel to its former glory.
The schooner was designed by Thomas F. McManus, and built by Arthur D. Story and launched from Story’s shipyard in Essex in 1921. According to Mystic Seaport, the L.A. Dunton was probably one of the last schooners built without an engine, although it was later retrofitted with one.
For the first few years, the L.A. Dunton fished cod and halibut near Boston. In 1934 the boat was sold to owners in Newfoundland, and for the next few decades it was used as a fishing and light freighting vessel. Mystic Seaport Museum acquired the schooner in 1963.
“There’s a purity about her that is just extraordinary,” said Walter Ansel, Mystic Seaport’s shipyard director. “She was never converted to any other use. To have a vessel like that is a real treasure.”
Ansel said the L.A. Dunton is one of the finest examples of a Grand Banks-style fishing schooner still in existence, but age has caught up with the boat, and major renovations are needed. One of the most problematic issues for the vessel is the hull, which over time has lost its curved shape.
“She’s flattened out terribly over the years,” explained Ansel. “We will have to push and manipulate the old timbers in the hull back to their original shape, and then we’ll have to replace them in kind with new oak and pine so we can make her a strong hull for sailing and longevity.”
Ansel said they are currently sourcing white oak for the planking of the hull from Connecticut and Virginia. Ansel said the goal is to get the vessel looking as good as new and sailing once again, but he expects the renovations could take up to 10 years.
