Marco Polo Project

'Pride and commitment' drove volunteers to finish ship
History Five years in the making, the Marco Polo II was put together by people who weren't shipbuilders

MIKE MULLEN
TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL
Nov 15/10

    Project manager Bob Coes speaks glowingly of the "pride and commitment" demonstrated by the small army of roughly 30 volunteers who, under his watch, built the giant landbased replica of the sailing ship Marco Polo over the last five years.
   Mostly retired, he said, the volunteers came from all walks of life - from a millwright to a physician to a chef.
   "But none of them were carpenters or boat builders - and that includes myself," said the former drafting technician and teacher, who included technical drawing among his subjects.
   While retired Air Canada passenger agent Ken Sparks, now 76, of Rothesay had built small boats and sailboats of up to 25 feet as a hobby, he - like the others volunteers - were stretched to the limit at times by the need to employ traditional 19th century shipbuilding techniques to get the arduous task done.
   Now complete, but still without a permanent home, the 95-by-65-foot Marco Polo II sits in Shed 8 on the west side.
   Hired in mid-2004 to oversee construction of the replica, Coes worked on his own the first two years.
   "The volunteers actually started in 2006;' he said. "I co-ordinated the work with the volunteers, overseeing the job and I had to do a lot of work along with them because there were things they couldn't do."
   But they were willing learners, he added, dedicated to the task.
   A handful of volunteers stuck with it the entire five years, but others spent a short time or a season. In the last two years, however, all those working on the project stuck with it to the end. "That was great for the project and showed their commitment to it; Coes said.
    Coes also explained that they didn't work on the project full-time, but five or six months annually.
   Sparks recalled how he approached teacher Barry Ogden, the visionary behind the Marco Polo II, after learning volunteers were needed for the project.
   "He put me on to Bob (Coes) and we went to Tim Hortons on the west side to discuss it," he said. "The first year, we spent mostly setting up the frames. Bob was a stickler for accuracy, so we spent many hours getting them straight."
   Over the years, he said, "We had to learn about steaming the planking and had to build our own steam box. And then we were worried (being inside a building) about our source of heat. You have to get steam from some place. We couldn't have an open fire like the old days. We had boiler made up with two electric heater elements in it to make the steam."
   Sparks said the volunteers would work pretty much the same day each week - his was Wednesdays - as Coes oversaw the entire operation.
   "Bob worked for his pay, believe me," he said. "It was an interesting exercise really. I think everybody that worked on it enjoyed it. At times, it was frustrating. As I said, Bob was a stickler for doing things right. There were no half measures with him. But we kept plugging along."
    Sparks said he always thought the "ideal" location for the replica would be inside the new Marco Polo Cruise Terminal where it would be both secure and out of the weather that in time will rot the untreated pine with which it was constructed. And where, he added, tourists and locals alike could visit year-round to see it.
   Real estate agent Martha Peters, who volunteered along with her hubby, David Peter, a chef, said she has always thought it might be nice if the replica wound up somewhere in the vicinity of Courtenay Bay, where the original Marco Polo was launched on April 17,1851.
   Martha said the two of them got involved as volunteers at her suggestion.
   "My interest was strictly an interest in boats, which I inherited from dad;' she said. "He had a hand in building boats in Richibucto. I have to be honest. David did a lot more than I did ... There were not a great deal of women involved, but I did things like sanding and gave them as much time as I could. There was a lot of detail too, very meticulous, but a very worthwhile project. It's just too bad no arrangement had been made yet for a permanent home."
   Coes keeps a full list of occupations of the volunteers who came together to build a tall ship.
   Apart from those already mentioned, they are: electrician, Coast Guard personnel, accountant, business manager, sales, diesel and heavy equipment technician, farmer, steelworker/welder, mill workers (lumber, pulp and paper), lawyer, refinery personnel, corrections administrator and firefighter.

HOME · THE STORY · PROJECT MARCO POLO · FACTS & HISTORY · GALLERY ·
TALES & YARNS · WHAT'S NEW · FAQ · SUPPORT · GUESTBOOK · LINKS

©WebWise Inc.