FAIRHAVEN, Mass. – Peter Arenstam’s work on the Mayflower II has turned his hands black with grease. He’s concentrating on fixing an electric generator.

But grease and frigid temperatures don’t dampen Arenstam’s enthusiasm for preserving this replica sailing ship that transports visitors to the past.

The Mayflower II, a recreation of the 17th-century merchant vessel that brought the Pilgrims to America, is nearly 50 years old. Every two years it leaves the State Pier in Plymouth – where is it open to visitors from April through November as part of nearby Plimoth Plantation – and settles into drydock at D.N. Kelley and Son, Inc., on the Acushnet River.

“I think that it would be nice to think that in 50 to 100 years this ship will still be teaching people about our early history,” said Arenstam, manager of Plimoth Plantation’s maritime artisans department.

Arenstam and his staff of four undertake much of the work above the waterline: replacing planking, repairing wooden deck fixtures, re-rigging and making new sails. They are assisted below the water line by Kelley shipyard workers. When the ship is back in Plymouth, it is cared for by Plantation staff.

A major job during this trip to Kelley’s was replacing worn plank fasteners discovered during Mayflower II’s latest Coast Guard inspection, Arenstam said.

On a recent day, hooded welder Vern Moore worked in a blinding flare of light to pull rusty fasteners out of the peeling side of the wooden vessel. The fasteners will be replaced with bright new ones of galvanized steel, handmade at Kelley’s, and ranging in length from 8 to 12 inches.

“It’s nice to see a beautiful boat like this that was made in 1955 keep on going,” Moore said.

Since the ship was transported to Kelley’s in mid-December, barnacles, algae and other debris have been cleaned off its hull.

Another drydock job is repainting the four-masted square-rigger in its period colors of brown, red, white and green. There are no official records of the original Mayflower’s paint. Plimoth Plantation researchers found old English paint formulas which Arenstam and his crew made up with linseed oil, plant pigments, and drying agents. A local supplier matched the colors in more durable modern paint.

The shipyard work is expected to wind up by the end of this month.

For the workers, the Mayflower job is a link with history and a source of family pride.

Bobby Magalhaes, 23, is a Portuguese immigrant following in his father’s footsteps at Kelley’s. He held a brace against the side of the ship while two co-workers clanged noisily away at an old nail until it came loose.

“I feel good. Maybe when I go see it with my girlfriend or my kid someday. I can tell them, “hey, I worked on this boat, I sealed the bottom, I painted the white. That’s what my father does to me all the time,”‘ Magalhaes said.

Luis Fonseca, a shipyard painter, said his daughters love the Mayflower II. Also a Portuguese immigrant, he feels a kinship with the hard-working Pilgrims.

“I like to do the same work that people do years ago, do the same job the Pilgrims do before. It’s almost the same. Take out old nails, put in new nails,” Fonseca said.



On the Net:

http://www.plimoth.org

www.dnkelley.com

AP-ES-01-24-04 1250EST