The official tall ship of New Jersey is in Maine for crucial restoration

BELFAST, Maine (WABI) - The official tall ship of New Jersey is in Belfast receiving some crucial repairs.

The schooner A.J. Meerwald was brought to Maine last week with restoration work beginning over the past few days.

The Meerwald is a 93-year-old oyster dredging schooner, a part of the maritime history of the Delaware Bay.

The ship now lives in the Bayshore Center at Bivalve, an environmental history museum.

It now joins the long history of old ship repair on Maine’s Midcoast.

”We’re really into the history of this vessel. We often repair and restore historic schooners up here in Maine, so it’s fun for us to get to practice our trade on a vessel that comes from a different part of the country with a different heritage,” said Tim Clark, Co-Owner of Clark and Eisele Traditional Boat Building.

Restoration work on the ship is scheduled to be finished by next June.

The restoration team is working on allowing visits and tours of the ship while they continue working.

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