Mariah is Cape Cod Shipbuilding's 8th Mercer as is currently owned by Edward and Joan Gorman. She was initially owned by Roger Blanchette and was named Indianola. She lived in Marion Massachusetts where Odyssey is current moored. She was sold to Phyllis and Gordon Vineyard in 1994 and was renamed to Hawke. They made a number of changes to her rig to improve her sailing: they added a travelor on the deckhouse and moved to a smaller jib and moved the jib tracks inboard of the shrouds. In 1999, she won the Bermuda Longtail Trophy in the Marion to Bermuda race. Odyssey and Hawke were sister ships in Marion. The Watsons and Vineyards enjoyed a couple of summers sailing up in Maine aboard their Mercers. Hawke was near the mouth of the harbor in Marion and was quite a sight for sure.
In 1999 the Vineyards have moved on to another boat and she was sold to the Gormans from Weems VA. They have renamed her to Mariah and she is be berthed and campaigned on the Chesapeake Bay. She has recently been beautifully renovated, and now boasts a new interior, freshly varnished throughout, new overhead, new cabin sole, new hatches and windows, and new cabinetry where a small kerosene heater scalded the area recently. According to Edward, she looks like new.
In 2002, Mariah went into the yard for five weeks and was further upgraded with a 16k BTU air conditioner, new Maxwell windlass, topsides paint, and varnish. As all of the Mercer owners know, "people stop and stare". Edward with son Jack will be campaigning her on the Chesapeake through September, 2002 as a shakedown for offshore work, i.e. Bermuda passage with sons Jack and E. Hoover in early to mid October. The Bermuda passage is seen as a further shakedown for a pond crossing to Ireland in 2003, using Bermuda as a jumping off point. Big plans. Stout boat.
Hope to have some pictures of her soon.
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