This spring, down in the Shipwright’s Co-op at the Port Townsend Boat Haven, an old schooner sits stripped to the skeleton of her timbers. Robert and Holly d’Arcy have taken on the mammoth restoration project of Martha, an 84' staysail-rigged schooner built in 1907 for the commodore of the San Francisco Yacht Club. Bob Triggs, who volunteers for the restoration, writes to us from the workshop:

“It’s like an archeological dig here sometimes. With Martha gaping open, Robert and Holly are carefully excising the old wood and finding the joints, mortises and bevels, then replacing each discarded piece with new wooden timbers and a fortune of bronze rods, drifts, screws and bolts. And they are taking care to preserve the original lines with their gracefully sweeping curves as they replace and repair her frames, planks and deadwood.

“It’s extraordinary to see Robert d’Arcy at it seven days a week, working longer days on the weekends—a soul inspired. He has several more months of work ahead and no breaks in sight. Holly is right beside him working every chance she gets. It’s kind of heroic really. A host of volunteers come and go, along with a few solid professional shipwrights who work with Robert.

“I have loved wooden boats all of my life. I have sailed on and owned a long string of strange and wonderful boats, and have restored a few small boats and canoes. I grew up sailing some back east as a kid. But I never thought I would get a chance to see a 100-year-old schooner up so close, with an opportunity to learn so much about how these classic schooners were built and how they fit together, with all the old boatbuilding techniques. I have been volunteering a bit each week on her, helping out as best I can.

“Robert is an unusual man: broadly skilled, widely experienced and totally focused. A serious professional. And yet he can take greenhorn volunteers and lead them through hundreds of critical steps in the reconstruction of this vessel—patiently teaching all the way—in a day. And then do it the next day, and the next. And he keeps track of every inch of every step of every single piece of the process. It’s really astonishing to witness.

“This is the most amazing wooden boat project one could imagine. I wish I could work on her every day. I don’t have money to donate, but I do have some time and skills. I’d like more people to know about her, maybe even to help support her, since it’s an expensive project. Martha is an awe-inspiring boat, but it’s the dedication of the people working to restore her that has just taken my breath away.”

Work on Martha is progressing apace, and fundraising efforts continue as the Schooner Martha Foundation works to find the $20,000 still needed to complete the project. For more information, or to make a donation, go to www.schoonermartha.org.