Bath Maine’s Nautical Mile can Build Stuff, Do Stuff as seen in The July 2022 issue of the Cryer
“Make stuff, build stuff, do stuff is a quote from Maine’s First Ship, Executive Director, Kirstie Truluck. The first time she said it to me, we were trying to define the ongoing attraction and magic that pulls people into the Virginia project. The reconstruction of a 1607 pinnace, Virginia, the first English ship built in North America.
Long a dream of shipbuilding enthusiasts located in and around Bath, Maine (City of Ships), the organization known as Maine’s First Ship gained momentum and strength in 2017 when the Bath Freight Shed project joined forces and they melded into one organization with a mission to honor the past and look to the future. That future has arrived and with it the ability to transform this community with a growing economic engine driven by the allure of the sea. The thousands of people who gathered to watch the launch are testimony to this point in time.
Nearly ten years ago, I began writing this column, The Boston and Maine Connection. I was commuting regularly from Maine to work in Kendall Square, which was just beginning to recognize itself as the most densely populated square mile of innovation. Today Kendall Square is an internationally recognized district where “imagination and ingenuity thrive.” Participating in that transformation, I found it interesting to compare the cultural and business differences between my two endpoint stations, Boston and Brunswick. At each terminal point of Amtrak’s Downeaster, people would frequently remark about the differences of my two worlds, but I saw mostly the synergy of ingenuity and community that connected them both, in my mind and in my life.
Kendall Square the hot spot of technology and collaboration
Kendall Square is a hot spot for technology. Companies once known as Google, Android and Facebook found tremendous resources concentrated around MIT and Harvard. The bio-tech clusters in Cambridge and Boston have been creating incredible lifesaving breakthroughs that only became apparent when the pandemic focused attention there. Their ‘overnight’ success was actually the hard-earned results of investment by our parents’ generation over a period of twenty years. The same can be said for the amazing launch on June 4, 2022 of the reconstruction of the Virginia. This little story can be the unique springboard for the future.
Bath Maine’s Nautical Mile
Maine’s 3,000+ miles of coastline has an allure to folks all over the world but it is Bath Maine that has a commercial ship builder anchoring hands-on experiences all around it. Want to build something, do something? You’ve come to the right place. Co working space, cooperative opportunities and the “bump factor” of a close knit downtown enhance the space for success.
Community is what binds us together. Technology has transformed the way we interact with others. By showing up and walking around, we can shift culture. Slowly at first, but powerful, in-person, face to face constructive projects build connection and trust. Maine communities have long lived by this principle. The elements that created success in Kendall Square isn’t new here but the use of technology and new communication styles and tools can bridge gaps created by our widely dispersed and varied communities. Maine Grains in Skowhegan is a continuing success story. Maine’s First Ship built over decades by inter-generational volunteers is another.
Hands-on and in-person builds trust
In these awkward times, hands-on and in-person builds trust. I’ve spent the last six months capturing images and curating them for a monthly printed broadside that was meant to emulate the crier of the 1700’s. More than once, I needed to set the camera aside to hold a ladder and be a spotter for a volunteer.
What comes next is up to all of us. We have the opportunity to drive an even stronger economic engine if we share skills and all row in the same direction as Kirstie mentioned in her welcome address. The world looks different and our actions make a difference. Rob Stevens has talked about building a batteau to go “visit” our neighboring friends up the river in Canada and re-construct a little diplomacy there. Sign me up!