Estella A. - Friendship Sloop
R.E. McLain, of Bremen Long Island, Maine, built this sloop in 1904 for H.J. Ames. Ames, a Matinicus, Maine, lobsterman, named the vessel for his daughter, Mrs. Julia Estella Ames Ripley. Estella A. worked in Maine waters for nearly 30 years, before being sold to a Rhode Island yachtsman, who altered the boat for his purposes.
Mystic Seaport added Estella A. to its watercraft collection in 1957. To restore the vessel to her former appearance, the Museum shipped the vessel by flatbed trailer to the Newbert & Wallace yard in Thomaston, Maine, where work was completed in 1970. Many examples of this craft endure today, their support perpetuated by faithful owners, associations, and traditional boatbuilders residing along the Maine coast.
Here is a further sampling of the more than 500 vessels owned by Mystic Seaport.