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DULCINEA was one of eighty Sou'wester built between 1946 and 1952, according
to her builders at the Hinckley Boat Company.
She began to fall on hard times following her 1985 visit to Manchester
Marine in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts. She was brought there to
be hauled out of the water for some major repairs under the waterline.
When presented the bill, her owner refused to pay and left her dry-docked
in the custody of Manchester Marine.
After several unsuccessful attempts to collect on this debt, Manchester
Marine took possession of the boat.
DULCINEA sat dry-docked and neglected at Manchester Marine for about
eight years after that.
In 1993 she was traded to a boatyard painter for a paint job on another
boat.
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DULCINEA
Hinckley
Sou'wester 34'
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DULCINEA was built by the Hinckley Boat
Company between 1946 & 1952 in Southwest Harbor Maine.
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DULCINEA sat dry-docked and neglected at
Manchester Marine from 1985 to 1993.
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This boat was officially classified a
non-viable candidate for restoration by both the Mystic Seaport
Collections experts and the Hinckley boat company.
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DULCINEA's ambitious new owner planned to restore her to her original
beauty and charm. He got as far as stripping her down to her oak ribs and
cedar planking when work stopped, and he mysteriously disappeared, leaving
DULCINEA abandoned once more.
During the fall of 1995, Manchester Marine, under new ownership, could
no longer spare the boat-yard storage space DULCINEA occupied and planned
to have her cut up for firewood.
Fortunately before the saws started, the yard's previous owner
discovered her predicament and moved her to his property next door in
hopes her fate would be other than firewood.
It was that fall when Davita Nowland spotted DULCINEA during her search
for a wooden boat hull to use as the raw material for Nauticals of
Marblehead's first series of coffee tables and lamps.
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