Susan E. Schopp

HISTORIAN • WRITER • CREW MEMBER

FRIENDSHIP

DECK REPLACEMENT PROJECT & REPAIRS, 2023-2025

Friendship "shrink-wrapped"

Friendship: A closeup from "inside"

Friendship: The helm during repairs

Friendship of Salem

Photos: Susan E. Schopp

Friendship: The helm "before"

Friendship's getting some repairs, which will include the replacement of her weather (upper) deck. The white covering that looks rather like "shrink-wrapping" protects the deck from rain, snow, and probably a few seagulls.

By the time the repairs are completed, deteriorated wood—not surprisingly, a problem for a wooden ship—will have been replaced in the following locations, as noted by Salem Maritime National Historic Site: the upper half of the transom (the stern); bulwarks (the railings along the sides of the ship); framing and planking in the forward two-thirds of the ship; the top layer of the main deck (that's the upper of Friendship's two decks, also known as the weather deck), plus the deteriorated portions of the sub-deck layers; sections of the beam, frame, and hull where there has been deterioration; and other main-deck components including hatch combings, windlass posts, and fore fife rails. The capstan, which has been removed, will also be repaired.

In mid-November 2024, Friendship was towed to Gloucester Marine Railways, just up the coast from Salem, where she was hauled out to have structural repairs made to her bow.