In 1929, a fisherman built a wooden boat beside the home where he was raising 13 children; nearly a century later, $1.5 million is being raised to restore it

Little Lady is set to be moved to the Gannon and Benjamin Marine Railway for repairs (Vineyard Gazette photo)

A wooden fishing boat built in 1929 is nearing a major restoration on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. The vessel, Little Lady, is the sole remaining wooden fishing dragger in New England and has been part of the island’s fishing community for generations.According to the Martha’s Vineyard Times, Little Lady is expected to be moved from Ralph Packer’s dock in Vineyard Haven to the Gannon and Benjamin Marine Railway in about a month, where work on the vessel will begin.The full restoration is estimated to cost $1.5 million. The project is being funded through private donations and Community Preservation Act funds from Tisbury and Chilmark. However, $630,000 is still needed to complete the work.After the restoration, Little Lady is expected to serve as an educational hub for younger generations at the docks. Any fish caught using the boat’s drag net will be donated to local food pantries. Nat Benjamin, co-founder of Gannon and Benjamin, describes Little Lady as an “iconic vessel that’s been in Mememsha for many generations.” “We’re trying to keep her there,” he adds.

History of ‘the little lady’

Little Lady was built in Noank, Connecticut, in 1929 by Captain Earl Foster and Oren Olds. The boat was originally named Mary F.Supporters were able to contact Foster’s family and learn more about how the boat was built. According to the family, Foster constructed the vessel beside his family home while raising 13 children with his wife.The boat eventually became so closely connected to the house that the family moved into the woodshed after it was completed. The house was then demolished, and Little Lady was dragged to the shore.By the 1950s, the vessel had been sold to the family of Dennis ‘Denny’ Jason Jr Jason’s grandfather turned it into a fishing dragger. The boat remained with the Jason family and became closely associated with Menemsha, the historic fishing village on Martha’s Vineyard.Little Lady is recognisable by its red and green-accented hull, ladders running up the centre mast, and its name and number painted in white along the side. Paintings and photographs of the boat have also appeared in local galleries.

Restoration replaces much of vessel

The Martha’s Vineyard Fishermen’s Preservation Trust bought Little Lady last year. However, Jason will continue as the boat’s captain after the restoration is completed.According to Shelley Edmundson, executive director of the preservation trust, the boat represents the wider working waterfront community in Vineyard Haven. That community includes ship repair workers, boat builders, fishermen and women, and a fuel station.“We are usually on the docks covered in fish scales, and then you have Gannon and Benjamin here on the waterfront covered in sawdust, and we’re all working really hard to keep our working waterfronts working in different ways. Little Lady symbolizes a wooden boat craftsmanship that is so lively and strong here,” Edmundson says.The remaining money is being raised as supporters prepare for the next stage of the restoration. Edmundson says the next $150,000 raised will be matched by a private donor, closing part of the funding gap.Christian Cabral, who manages operations and the business side of Gannon and Benjamin, outlined the work planned for the boat. Materials have already started to be procured, and the team plans to move Little Lady to the workshop next month.Around 80 per cent of the hull, engine and other parts are expected to be repaired or replaced. At the same time, the restoration team plans to retain the character of the historic vessel.Cabral says, “Restoration, in its broadest sense, is taking an existing object with what now has historic providence, looking at that object, deciding what we need to preserve, how we need to preserve it, and the methodology to take care of it. This is our guiding principle. This is where we start. To put it bluntly, is the object worth saving?” Cabral asks.For those involved with Little Lady, the answer is yes. Cabral says the boat represents the connection between Martha’s Vineyard’s residents and the water, including generations who made their living through fishing and boatbuilding.“Denny and his family, all the community members that go down to Menemsha and get the ice cream at the Galley and see that boat sitting there. The feeling of Martha’s Vineyarders, who have made their money from the water, building boats and fishing, were downstream directly of that lineage. The feeling includes being on board the boat and taking kids out on the water. Those are all worthwhile things that we have the opportunity to preserve,” Cabral says.