That sinking feeling Becky Farley of Boothbay Harbor Shipyard volunteered to help demonstrate weight displacement theories fore the National Geographic television crew that visited the shipyard on March 8 at film footage for their upcoming Mysteries of the Bible: Noah's Ark p (Photo Joe Orchulli II)

As of Monday, March 13, CNN headlines boasted that the proportion of an image taken by satellite on Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey is in fact very close to the biblical blueprint of Noah's Ark.

What would it actually take to build a boat the size of Noah's Ark?

Do you think that it is possible that Noah and his three sons could have actually built a boat that large?

These are just two of the many questions asked by National Geographic Television producer Jenny Kubo as she and two of her crewmembers filmed segments of their upcoming Mysteries of the Bible: Noah's Ark television program at Boothbay Harbor Shipyard on Wednesday, March 8.

"I think that it is possible that Noah and his three sons could have built a vessel that large. They would have had really strong backs by the time that they were done," said Boothbay Harbor Shipyard General Manager David Stimson.

"They also would have had to have some sort of mechanical advantage, a block and tackle type of rig. I assume that since Noah had lived such a long life, he was probably pretty creative and figured out a lot of things," Stimson said.

Discovery, a replica of one of the vessels that settled Jamestown in 1607 is in the process of being built at Boothbay Harbor Shipyard and will weigh 43 tons when completed.

"Noah's Ark would probably have been at least 10,000 tons. This replica of Discovery will be built in a period of 9 months with a crew of 12 to 15 men. The shipyard, in order to build this vessel in nine months, relies heavily on modern machinery, electric planes, drill presses, table saws, things that Noah definitely did not have use of. He would have had to put in really long days in order to make up for the lack of machinery.

"I haven't actually done the calculations but I think that the amount of wood needed to build the Ark could easily have amounted to 5,000 tons of wood which translates to about 250 semi-trailer trucks.

"According to the bible, the Ark was 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits deep. There is some question as to how big a cubit was in fact there are about 5 or 6 different definitions of cubits.

"If we go by the commonly accepted length of 18 inches (the average length from a man's elbow to his fingertips,) that means that the Ark was 450 feet long and 75 feet wide and 30 feet high which is a formidable size to build a wooden structure that will hold together in big seas. I think it's feasible to design and build a structure that would work, but it would not have been an easy task engineering wise," Stimson said.

That would make Noah's Ark taller than a 3-story building, with a deck area the size of 20 college basketball courts.

Associate Producer for National Geographic Television Science Department Elise Kirk spoke a little about the Society's visit, "We're trying to look at the story not only from a biblical theological perspective, but also, most importantly, from a scientific perspective and from a contemporary understanding of how our world works.

"We have the story of Noah's flood and we are speaking with geologists about what they can tell us about the Earth's history by looking at different strata's of rocks and erosional processes of the ages, and the age of the world from a geological perspective. We are also looking at where we see evidence in rock of a giant flood having existed.

"We're here at Boothbay Harbor Shipyard looking at boat construction, the possibility of a giant wooden structure being built and the amount of work that goes into creating wooden boats. Also, to research the possibility of a vessel such as the Ark being constructed that would have been out in the open sea for forty days and forty nights with the weight of all of it's cargo.

"I don't think our aim is to say whether or not Noah existed or the Ark or the flood, but just looking at what grains of truth might have cultivated that story," Kirk said.

Boothbay Harbor Shipyard owner, Terry McClinch said, "David Stimson has assembled some of the finest craftsmen that you'll find anywhere," commenting on the staff at the shipyard.

"I would also like to express my gratitude to the town, which has been very supportive. We couldn't do what we are doing without the support of the community".

One of the head shipwrights of the Discovery project, Pete Johnson said, "I bet that Noah could have built a boat with his sons and that it could have been 450 feet and just drifted with the storm and the waves. It was probably a barge design and he could have designed a boat like that just to last a short time. It was probably just flat sided and very sturdy. I think that he took at least 50 years to build it."

When asked if he would have taken on such a project, Johnson said, "No way! I would take swimming lessons!"

Joe.o@boothbayregister.com