If you love working with wood, it’s hard to imagine a cooler job than restoring an old-time wooden sailing ship. Just ask Matthew Majeski. He’s a shipwright at the Henry B. DuPont Preservation Shipyard at the Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Conn., and these days, Majewski is working on a stem-to-stern rehab of the Mayflower II, a historically authentic replica of the original Mayflower that brought the Pilgrims to America in 1620.
Mystic Seaport shipwright Brett Land drilling holes for trunnels.
Anthony Daniels fairing the hull.
Like many of his fellow shipwrights, Majewski’s a graduate of the International Yacht Restoration School (iyrs.edu) in Newport, R.I. How much fun are they having? Just check out Majewski’s Instagram (@silkywoodboy_), where he posts cool photos of work in progress.
Anthony Matt hand-planing a plank
Greg See installing waterways
The lumber includes domestic yellow pine and purpleheart, along with some white oak cultivated in the royal forest in Denmark. The crew steam-bends pieces as big as 6 by 10 inches, and uses everything from a chain saw to a hand plane to make extreme bevels. “We also have two motorized ship saws for rolling bevels,” says Majewski. “Some pieces it takes all eight of us to bend into place and clamp on.”
