BOOTHBAY HARBOR — The schooner Ernestina-Morrissey is the state ship of Massachusetts, but for the next three years it will be docked at the Boothbay Harbor Shipyard undergoing a $6 million bow-to-stern retrofit.

The 156-foot, two-masted wooden schooner, built as a fishing vessel in 1894 and made famous for its explorations of the Arctic Circle in the 1930s and 1940s, was towed to the shipyard on Monday morning by a tugboat from Massachusetts.

Over the next several months, workers at the shipyard will begin tearing the ship apart and then will build an enclosure around the vessel to allow for year-round maintenance.

“Everything you’re looking at is coming off,” said Capt. David Thompson on Monday while offering a tour of the ship. “It’s the only way to keep this old lady going.”

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