The mast-stepping for the sloop Providence, undergoing renovations at the Wiscasset recreational pier since fall, will wait a little longer due to an unseasonable spring rain. The raising of the mast is now set for Friday, May 17, weather permitting.

The reproduction ship is a replica of one built in 1768, one of the earliest ships of the Continental Navy and captained by John Paul Jones before its crew scuttled it to keep it out of enemy hands. The current ship was built in 1976 and was damaged while in drydock in 2015 during a January Nor’easter.