ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Julie Tarmy points to some of the photographs telling the history of the Valiant. The piece of round metal was used to bend the timber for the sides of the boat.
BY BRIDGET TURCOTTE
NAHANT — An exhibit at the Nahant Historical Society opened this week, showcasing what can be done when a community works together.
Julie Tarmy, the society’s office administrator, called on longtime residents to search their basements for memorabilia they might have from the launch of the Valiant, an 80-foot, 90-ton dragger, in 1963.
Nahant answered and brought dozens of items from the boat’s eight-year launch and construction. Tarmy and resident Robert Wilson gathered the items and created an exhibit, which is open three days a week.
With each item came a story and a memory of the colossal feat completed by Ray Palombo and Frank “Swede” McClain. The pair learned there was a large lobster population on the shelf, but needed a rig that was larger than the typical 40-foot fishing boat.
In 1955, they began constructing the boat in the small space between their homes. Soon neighbors got involved with odd projects to keep progress moving along.
“They were all fishermen,” Tarmy said. “They would haul 40 traps in the morning, come back and take care of their haul, and then work for a couple of hours before the sun went down.”
Residents stopped by to check on the boat and were handed a hammer to help.
Roz Puleo, police dispatcher and lifelong resident, recalled the neighborhood children walked on the ship’s boards to get them to bend the right way.
Louis Letourneau’s family, who helped create the ship, came forward with several of the tools used during construction. A file, Adze hoe, hand drill, planer to shave the wood and hand compass and protractor are all on display at the museum. Most of the tools are made of iron and steel and have wooden handles.
When the dragger was finished, transporting the boat to the water became the town’s challenge. E.H. Hinds Riggers, a Watertown-based rigging company, was contracted to complete the job.
The boat was moved using a steel cradle, planks and wooden rollers. The rollers were continuously moved from one end of the boat to the other. One of the rollers was preserved by E.H. Hinds Riggers and donated by George Derderian, whose grandfather worked for the company.
Also on display are two ores, the only remnants of the ship. Everything else sits on the ocean floor about 70 miles off the coast of Nantucket, where the boat struck floating debris and sunk four years after being launched.
The only known painting of the Valiant fully rigged hangs in the museum. It was painted by McClain’s wife, Virginia. Countless photographs line the walls, taken by residents including Roland Oxton, Basil Robinson and Fred Wilson.
There are also pictures shot by Ted Polumbaum, Life Magazine photographer. But the photos were never published because of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy that overshadowed the event.
“I thought people might have a box of old stuff lying around somewhere,” Tarmy said. ”But people just kept coming out of the woodwork with more things. There are so many interesting side stories. We’re still researching and finding things out.”
The exhibit is free and open to the public on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 1-4 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through the month of August.
Bridget Turcotte can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @BridgetTurcotte.