Tag Archives: the last cannery

Iconic sardine carrier Pauline to be restored for group’s educational mission

Built in Thomaston in 1948, the “pretty Pauline” was the queen of the fleet, carrying sardines from the coves of Vinalhaven and the waters around remote offshore islands at the mouth of Penobscot Bay such as Wooden Ball and Seal to the North Lubec Canning Co.’s plant in Rockland. For the past decade or so, the boat has sat unused alongside the breakwater at the Billings Diesel & Marine shipyard in Stonington. Harlan Billings, late owner of the shipyard, kept Pauline afloat and the yard did some work on the boat’s hull to keep it tight. A few years ago, he donated the boat to OceansWide Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Newcastle that, among other educational projects, has organized the Traps to Treasure program in Gouldsboro. >click to read< 15:23