Antonisa Construction Details

by Mike Barker

Tom Pawlak and I had the opportunity to visit I Hodgdon Yachts Inc. in East Boothbay, Maine to view the progress on the 124′ Bruce King designed yacht, ANTONISA while she was under construction in 1998.

We first reported on this boat in Epoxyworks 9, (Spring 1997) when the cold-molded hull was being prepared for sheathing. All has gone well. The hull was sheathed with fiberglass, rolled over and the 52-ton lead keel was installed just after our last visit. She has been outfitted with a 5 50hp. Lugger diesel and most of her hardware.

On deck, the final sections of the teak cap rail were being painstakingly scarffed together. Below deck, the marble fireplace and pipe organ have been installed in the salon. Carpenters with an obsession for perfect joinery were fitting the remaining pieces of cherry trim, while painters, ready for the first coats of varnish, worked around them.

Hodgdon is on schedule for launching in mid-June, when the 350,000 lb hull will be hauled a few hundred yards up the road to the launch site. Fitting out will continue through the summer with delivery in the fall.Built with a meticulous attention to detail, and dedication to workmanship that will be appreciated by future generation of surveyors, she is sure to be one of the most beautiful and most durable yachts ever built.