Last day of the first week.

0800-1700

Ok, I’ll be honest, it was a long first week. After spending 4 full days in the basement of the museum for the most part alone, my feet were beginning to ache a bit from standing all day. Something else I forgot to mention about these plans. Some are paper but most are made of linen. The records I am going through right now are from the 1890s, so they are over a hundred years old and very dirty. Every break I take, I need to wash my hands because they are black. While I was employed with the National Archives, I often did records requests or records holding/maintenance of this sort but this is by far the filthiest records I have dealt with. No worries though.

When my feet begin to ache a bit more than normal, I take my attention off them and really take a look at the records I’m going through. To think I am looking through a document that was made just 25 years after the end of the American Civil War is pretty amazing. I worked on some new ships today and at this time, Bath Iron Works was receiving primarily defense contracts: building ships for the United States Navy. Although these ships are no longer commissioned, some were active during the first World War!

I also hit some problems today with the records. The engineers and architects at BIW probably never imagined these records would have any historically importance a hundred and thirty years after they were drawn up. Some of these plans have different engine numbers. In addition, there are BIW Hull #s but also Naval Hull #s, some are unmarked and with Naval ships, I am seeing HUNDREDS of plans rather than a few dozen. Things are beginning to get both complicated and interesting.

Today I completed Hull# 12 (“U.S. Navy Light Vessel #66), Hull #19 and 20 (U.S. Navy Light Vessels 68 and 69), Hull #15 (U.S. Navy Gunboat “Vicksburg”) and Hull #16 (U.S. Navy Gunboat “Newport”). The Vicksburg and Newport seemed very complete with only a few plans missing. Full hull/deck/bow/stern blueprints were present and will make a great exhibit or a model ship builder very happy eventually.

Besides the museum work, I’ve made some observations about Maine and those who live here that I’d like to share with you. In advance, don’t take any of this like I don’t like Maine. It’s an absolutely beautiful place. I have traveled extensively all over the world and it’s beauty rivals that of Newfoundland, the timber of Germany, and the vast mountains of Afghanistan. Here they are:

1. I'm from the Midwest. I say “ya’ll”. They don’t say “ya’ll” up here and when you do say it, they give you an odd confused look. The same applies to the words “gal” and when ordering a sandwich asking for “the fixins.”

2. The people here are easily offended when mispronouncing their town/city/river names, etc. It’s “BanGOR” and not “BanGER”

3. The locals are not all that fond of those who only spend the summers here. There are plenty of people that live south of here most of the year and spend the summers here because it’s gorgeous and the weather is very mild.

4. “You’re from Missouri? How on earth are you interested in maritime history?” I get asked that at least once a day. I explain to them that I am interested in early American history and because I grew up in the Midwest, the sea sure is romantic, gorgeous and much more powerful than any lake or river where I come from. It is impossible to look at early American history without bringing into context the importance of maritime trade and commerce. As I have already seen here in this town right on the ocean, there is a special charm and sub-culture to those who lives revolve around the sea and I’m sure in the 17^th and 18^th century, it was not any different.

5. Everyone here rides a motorcycle. This surprised me, knowing they probably only get a few good riding months a year.

6. Following that thought, people here ski in the winter and kayak in the summer. They stay pretty active and its tough to just sit around when you’ve got Maine out the window.

7. The chowder is tasty and the Irish pub is lovely here in Bath, Maine.

8. The people here are much more environmentally minded than most places I have lived.

9.Bath, Maine, like many coastal towns, is only 4 blocks wide but 3 miles long, along the river that feeds into the ocean.

10. Even if you think you know something about nautical living and aren’t from a coastal city, you really don’t know much. Going to the ocean on the weekends doesn’t count. These people know ships/boats/vessels like we know cars.

11. You can learn a lot about a place by just going to Walmart. There’s not a lot going on here in Bath, and there’s some interesting people there. When kids are just wondering around in groups looking at deodorant and having nerf-gun wars in the store, there’s obviously nothing else for them to do in town. At least they aren’t doing crack in the alley?

12. The ocean here doesn’t smell like dirty fish, which is definitely a plus.

13. It rains a lot in June.

14. People are fairly friendly and wonder why on earth I’m here. They ask a lot of questions and genuinely seem interested. I’m not some rich schmuck with a house on the ocean from Boston up for the weekend/week/month/summer and they don’t mind talking to me.

15. BIW employs 6,000 people currently and at one time, employed 10,000+. There’s a lot of blue collar workers in the area.

Well, I’m sure I’ll come up with more as it comes. These are just some things I thought of within my first week here. I’m sure I will do some exploring this weekend as its my first chance. More to come soon.