We were sorting through some old family letters at home last week and came across mail from John Endicott, my wife’s uncle, dated June 18, 1937. The letter included instructions from Donald B. MacMillan as follows:

“Since we have provisions and a power boat to load on in Maine, I think it best for the expedition to sail from Gloucester at 10 A.M., Thursday, June 24, for Portland, where we shall be on June 25 until 3 P.M. when we shall sail for Boothbay. A train from Boston will take you to Wiscasset from which place a bus leaves for Boothbay. If weather permits, I would like to sail about 4 P.M. for Sydney, N.S.”

This is kind of interesting to know that MacMillan was headed north from here on a ship other than the Bowdoin. The Gertrude L. Thibaud, which was the vessel Endicott met in Boothbay, was not as well suited for Arctic travel as the Bowdoin. In fact, I have read that had the captain of the Thibaud known that the ship was constructed of “shorts,” (leftover wood from other ship construction) he would not have taken on the sail. She nearly sank when going aground in Frobisher Bay, Baffin Island.

The Bowdoin was heavy built with double plank and double frame white oak. There was a steel plate attached to the bow for protecting the hull from collisions with ice. The Bowdoin was well suited to Arctic explorations as designed by William Hand of New Bedford, Massachusetts and built by our own Hodgdon Brothers in East Boothbay.

As time went by, repairs became necessary for the Bowdoin. In 1986, she returned to East Boothbay for extensive work and was “re- launched” with considerable fanfare at or near the very spot where she was built. I made the inset photograph with Mrs. MacMillan and Jim Stevens during the festivities. In more recent times, the Bowdoin was hauled again at the Bristol Marine yard in Boothbay Harbor (above photo) for extensive repairs re-launching at midnight, June 17, 2019 for further adventures, now under the guidance of Maine Maritime Academy.

Presently, after a brief visit in Boothbay Harbor, she will once again set sail for northern waters and new explorations. The Bowdoin was originally launched in 1921.