Maine's First Ship

It's Native American Heritage Day. In addition to lecture recordings on our Events page, here are some Maine-based educational resources to explore and learn more:
https://mainestatemuseum.org/learn/lessons_resources/indigenous_peoples/
https://www.maine.gov/doe/learning/content/socialstudies/resources/mainenativestudies/resources/websites
https://www.nps.gov/acad/learn/historyculture/wabanaki.htm

Support Virginia in her home away from home by joining our Giving Tuesday campaign on November 28--a generous donor will match gifts from new supporters! Here Virginia sits at the Wiscasset Town Dock with Route 1 crossing the Sheepscot in the background, January 2022.

Today we’re thankful for thoughtful journalism & thorough research. Worth a read on Thanksgiving & every day

One of the only places that can claim to host the First Thanksgiving rejects the label English colonists in Maine hosted a feast with Native visitors years before Plymouth. But the people working to preserve the colony disavow ties to a holiday with a complicated history.

Giving thanks and revisiting memories of good food & fellowship at the Freight Shed: celebrating volunteers and serving the community baked beans and specialty Full Moon Dinners.

Why does Virginia travel to Wiscasset for the winter? Well, the Sheepscot has a higher level of salinity which is good for her hull (think spa treatment 😉). And, as we saw with the damage to the dolphin last winter, the Kennebec at Bath sees more ice.
We're asking you to support Virginia's Winter in Wiscasset for Giving Tuesday this year. Please join us on November 28.

Docks are pulled. The pinnace Virginia wintering in Wiscasset makes for a quiet morning in the boatyard in Bath. The costs of Virginia's home away from home are the focus of our Giving Tuesday campaign this year. Watch this space to learn more.

Launching on Giving Tuesday--in one week--a MATCH for new supporters!! Double the love for Virginia, MFS, and our volunteer-powered approach to History, Ingenuity, & Community. Our Giving Tuesday goals are: 20 new Member-Supporters and a total of $3,000 toward Wintering in Wiscasset. Join us next Tuesday!

Tuesday, November 21, 7pm, ZOOM option available to join the Wabanaki Voices Speaker Series from the Skowhegan History House.

Tribal Sovereignty Discussion with Ambassador Maulian Bryant and Darren Ranco Hosted by Skowhegan History House Museum & Research Center To attend the discussion via Zoom, register here. Tuesday, November 21, 2023 at 7:00pm

In this season of gratitude, MFS is grateful for a year of "firsts" and especially grateful for the community around MFS: our volunteers, Member-Supporters & Business Partners, neighbors, and friends here and throughout the greater maritime community--from visiting captains to the Wiscasset folks who called the Bath office when a storm blew off our cover.

Some Things (we like) To Do - row stuff, learn stuff, climb stuff, make stuff, haul stuff, dress up & sail Virginia!
Please vote for The Virginia-Maine’s First Ship for Best of the 207 “Things To Do” >> Attractions
Final day of voting! https://www.vote207.com

History Live North East Castlebay Colonial Maine Living History Association

Summer 2023 has gone and Virginia has left her home dock to Winter in Wiscasset. Visitor Center hours during her absence will be 9am-12noon on Saturdays, during the Bath Farmers Market. MFS is happy to have BFM in residence at the Bath Freight Shed for the colder months. We appreciate your support: vote for Virginia under Things to Do >> Attraction for Best of the 207; join us on Giving Tuesday; follow us on social media; and visit mfship.org to view online exhibits or summer lectures you missed. Best of the 207 Bath Farmers' Market

You dealt with the issues last Tuesday--now it's time to vote for something fun!
Best of the 207

8 Bells = time for lunch thanks to JR Maxwell & Co. A little chilly, but enjoyed sandwiches and a following sea as we cruised passed Reid State Park

Virginia’s transit to Wiscasset has been postponed to Friday Nov 10. We apologize to our stalwart fans who may have come out in the sleet & snow Thursday for a glimpse of the beautiful Virginia underway on the river. Est departure time - 9-9:30am
Est time around - 6hrs give or take

My family begs me to make this recipe every week, and the best part is that it's so easy.
**Must express something to keep getting my recipes.... Thank you.
Full recipe 👇 💬

Popham Beach Improvement Association invites all to our November Potluck Supper this Saturday. We dine at 6!

The Rigging Crewe! Another reason you could vote for The Virginia-Maine’s First Ship as Best of the 207 🙌
Things to Do > Attraction
https://www.vote207.com

Another Hands On Our History session with RSU1 this morning--ready for rigging!
RSU1

Presenting today to student leaders from around Maine
Maine Association of Nonprofits Hyde School

How it’s going & how it started = Nostalgia! MFS is grateful for another opportunity to earn MFS & our City of Ships a “Best of the 207” recognition. Won’t you vote? Also, check out the November issue of The Cryer! Vote207.com

Tools & Tinkerers! MFS is a space for curious makers, and we think that makes The Virginia - Maine’s First Ship an awesome Attraction in Best of the 207!

Please Vote daily through Nov 17 - https://www.vote207.com

Things To Do >> Attraction

Time to get your voting skills tuned up & help us repeat our 2022 success!
WE’VE BEEN NOMINATED FOR AN AWESOME ATTRACTION in BEST OF THE 207

You can vote once a day 🙌🗳️ at https://www.vote207.com

Best of the 207 >> Things To Do >> Attractions >> The Virginia - Maine's First Ship

https://www.vote207.com

Work with your hands & make something cool! Join Carpenter’s Boatshop in December AND join us at the end of October with Volunteer Mike Foster for metal work. FMI visit https://mfship.org/workshop-metal-working/

Downrigging with the MFS Volunteer Crewe.

You may have seen the comment from Fred Gosbee earlier this week that he is prepared to join in the Hands On Our History session with RSU1 students on Thursday. The topic is treenails & traditional woodworking; the purpose behind the program is "to gather young novices together with talented mentors so that mentors can share handcraft skills... " Fred certainly has plenty of woodworking experience to share: here he works on both the vice bench and foot-powered lathe shared in earlier photos, as well as in the boatyard. The knighthead, featuring Shipwright Rob Stevens' likeness, incorporates both precision functional construction and artistic interpretation.
Thanks to Maine Community Foundation for program support through the Belvedere Traditional Handcraft fund.

Tuesday morning reflections

Cooler weather calls for some Alphabet Soup: RSU1 returns to MFS for more HOOH! Hands On Our History features Traditional Art, Historic Culture, & Modern Science. Students have worked woolen thrums into knit caps and have crafted a panel of wattle & daub. On Thursday they will explore some woodworking tools & techniques as they create treenails. Thanks to Maine Community Foundation for support through the Belvedere Traditional Handcraft fund. RSU1

Rain, rain, ⛈️ will keep us off the deck Saturday - On-deck tours cancelled 10/21. The Visitor Center is open from 10am-3pm.
Next week we are excited to welcome back students from RSU 1 for another installment of Hands On Our History 🙌

Fall Cleaning Time! Calling all current & curious helping hands the week of Oct 23rd. Help MFS get the Freight Shed ready for the winter Farmer’s Market. Let these Morse Shipbuilder volunteers inspire you - they’ve done the heavy lifting 💪 Morse High School Bath Farmers' Market Just show up & check the To Do list when you have a window in your day

Join MFS Volunteer and metal-working hobbyist Michael Foster for a three day (afternoons) Basic Metal Working class and learn how to cut, drill, anneal, form, and solder copper sheets and wire as you craft a copper wind spinner.
Details and registration at mfship.org/events.

Window Dressers are back in the Freight Shed this week with a volunteer team building insulating window inserts. Ten days ago we had our Fiber Day and welcomed the return of the Chili Chowder Fest with Midcoast Youth Center. At the end of the month MFS's Mike Foster will present a Basic Metal Working class: starting in November the Bath Farmers Market will be in residence for their winter season. The Bath Freight Shed is a place where community groups can bring their people together to create, learn, share, and celebrate. WindowDressers Midcoast Youth Center Bath Farmers' Market

There is still time to enjoy the 2023 edition of the IMFF which includes our little documentary film: Maine's First Ship--25 Years of History, Ingenuity, Community.
Thanks to Maine Community Foundation for funding the film project.
Main Street Bucksport

Oct 16 marks the final week of Virginia’s Dockside Deck Tours for the 2023 season. Reservations for Wed & Sat can be made in-person at the Freight Shed on Wed & Sat 😁

comes next

More details at
https://mfship.org/home/events/

Discover Virginia! Dockside deck tours at 10:30, 11:30, 1:00 & 2:00 today (Saturday)

We welcomed Bath Tech students aboard for Virginia's First Ever public trips & tours thanks to Bath Industrial Sales who, like Bathtech and Maine's First Ship, deeply value the development of hands-on trade skills that make all good things - especially sailboats - possible.

The technical skills of design, engineering, carpentry, mechanical, and electrical ALL worked together over the years to build an historic ship in the City of Ships. Bath Industrial Sales provides a great deal of what our shipwrights and riggers use to get the job done.
Jobs For Maine's Graduates

What a lovely little park space MFS has as our new neighbor! Come down today (Thursday, October 12) for the festivities and food and enjoy the view (including Virginia 🥰 and the newly dedicated Torii Gate).
https://www.facebook.com/events/874819063639696/?ref=newsfeed City of Bath