The Spirit of Massachusetts has been hauled out of the Kennebunk River to a berth on the lot near the new Pilot House Restaurant in Lower Village Kennebunk and reportedly will be accessible from the eatery.

The Spirit was modeled after an 1889 Gloucester fishing schooner designed by Edward Burgess and built by Moses Adams of Essex, MA. Boston tycoon J. Malcom Forbes was intrigued by her design. While she was being built, he purchased the vessel and named her The Fredonia. Forbes had her bottom coppered and fitted her out for use as a pleasure yacht before taking her on a cruise across the Atlantic. He and co-owner, Capt. Charles H. Harty were so pleased with her speed and performance they challenged the owners of the crack pilot boat, The Hesper to a race. The Hesper was heavily favored to win the race. Her owners agreed to the Forbes challenge but only if $6,000 was at stake. Forbes and Harty put up their $3,000 and then beat The Hesper handily in the September 1889 race, forever earning The Fredonia the reputation of being fast & able. By December of that year Captain Harty was sailing her off Georges Bank as the fisherman she was built to be. On Dec. 17, 1896, she was knocked down and wrecked in a hurricane 100 miles off Cape Sable NS. The crew was rescued by the Canadian steamer Colorado but the fast and able Fredonia quickly sank.

Many Fredonia replicas have since been built. The Spirit of Massachusetts, one of the last vessels built at Boston’s Charlestown Navy Yard, was launched on April 28, 1984. The Spirit was commissioned by the New England Historic Seaport for the purpose of providing training to young people interested in learning about the sea and sailing. In addition to her work as a training vessel, Spirit of Massachusetts served as goodwill ambassador for the state of Massachusetts.

The Raymond family of Kennebunk purchased The Spirit of Massachusetts in 2014 to turn her into a floating restaurant. I remember well the sound of the crowd cheering in the dark as she was hauled up the Kennebunk River on the night of 11/15/2014. May her new identity on land do justice to the beautiful Fredonia topsail schooner lines that caught the eye of J. Malcolm Forbes.