SAVE NANTUCKET I

FROM THE SCRAP YARDS

THE SITUATION TODAY

The Nantucket I Lightship sits at a pier in Marina Bay, Quincy, MA. locked and in danger of being sold to a scrap yard. Currently owned by the Metropolitan District Commission of the State of Massachusetts, this ship has been placed on the Surplus and Disposal List by the MDC. This means if no one comes forward to take the ship, the MDC can sell her for what ever it deems a worthy price. She will be scrapped as trash for scrap value.

WHY WE CARE AND WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP

This is the Last lightship that served in the U. S. Coast Guard, serving its last remaining days as an active lightship on Nantucket Shoals, some 56 miles off Nantucket Island. Built in 1950, she was first placed into service in California as the San Francisco lightship. Her next tour of duty was at Blunts Reef. Following Blunts Reef, she came to the east coast to become the Portland lightship off Portland Maine and finally as the Nantucket I, part of a two ship tour of duty shared with Nantucket II.

She has sailed the Panama Canal twice, spent 35 years serving countless men and woman protecting the ships they were on from harms way, always on watch. When the Nantucket station was shut down she served her last year trying to find a use for her in the waters off the east coast. She sailed to Florida, to serve as a fuel ship for drug intervention. She operated as a platform for many maritime events such as operation sail in Boston Harbor, and as a platform and turning point for the Plymouth 500 offshore power boat races. She guarded faithfully then vice President George Bush off the coast of Maine when he was at home. And most importantly, she is one of only 15 lightships left, and in better condition than half of those left. When she was called, she served. Fifty foot seas and greater were nothing to this ship. If you have been there, you know what a "Nantucket sleigh ride" is all about. Her history can not be allowed to go to a scrap yard. This ship is not ready to die!

WHO CARES AND WHY

Certainly not the MDC. A group of people called the Friends of the Lightship Nantucket I, do. And have for the last ten years. This group of volunteers painted her, cleaned her, maintained her, and even won awards with her. Even though the MDC did absolutely nothing in return. The MDC had promised to support this ship with funds from the State. IT DID NOT. The Friends of the Nantucket I rebuilt this ship to operational with not one penny coming from the MDC. Over the course of 7 years they obtained in excess of $80,000 dollars in donations, all put to good use for the benifit of this ship. Last August, the MDC locked the Friends out of the ship, shutting the doors to even allow proper winterization of the seven engines, fresh water system, sewage system, and heating system. This has been a very cold winter, and since nothing with fresh water has been winterized you can expect that everything done in the past has been wiped out at the hands of the MDC currently run by David Balfour. Seven years of blood, sweat, tears, and VOLUNTEER SERVICE gone down the tubes at the whim of David Balfour. Poof - gone! Just like that.

So we want to try to save her. Thats going to cost money. Thats money we do not have. Here is where you can help. A contribution from you of any amount will help us save this ship. We need your help. If you find it in your heart to save a piece of history, then please help us out.

Send us a contribution to save the Nantucket I. Contributions can be sent to: