BELLIVEAUS COVE, N.S. — An Acadian boatbuilder who laboured long and lovingly to build a 37-foot long replica of a beautiful Dutch sailing yacht would have been pleased at what’s being planned for his Stella Maris after he died.
Jean Belliveau devoted close to three decades dreaming, drawing and building the replica, while having a lot of fun along the way.
He cut all of his own wood for the boat with the use of a little sawmill near his workshop and only purchased the required cedar. He did have some help with the planking, but the rest of it evolved slowly in evenings and weekends under his hands.
The Stella Maris vessel features eye-catching ornate wood carvings, now appraised at $71,000, which Belliveau also created.
His construction became a popular tourism attraction, with visitors from all over Canada, the United States and Europe and as far away as China, filling two guest books.
In 2005, Belliveau began struggling with health issues and in 2014 progress on the vessel came to a halt.
He passed away on Dec. 3, 2017, at the age of 81. The importance of his beloved Stella Maris was clear in his obituary.
“Jean was a kind and very sociable person who’s first love was his family and friends. His second love in life was his passion for wooden sailing ships, especially the one he was building, which was a 37-foot replica of a 17th Century Dutch Classic Yatch. His joy in building it was more rewarding to him than that of even being able to see it in the water and sailing it.”
Gary Theriault, a founding member of the Belliveau Cove Development Commission (BCDC), says he often met with Jean Belliveau during his last days to talk to him about his boat because he was getting more ill and couldn’t see himself finishing it, launching it and using it.
“I’d sit down with him and he would come to tears. He told me, ‘Gary I want you to have the boat, to take it and put it on display. I don’t want to see my boat rot in someone’s back yard and not care about it anymore.’"
“He had put his heart and soul into it,” says Theriault.
After talking with other family members, it was agreed the boat would be passed over to BCDC with a five-year purchase agreement to buy the boat from the family for $65,000. The value of the boat for insurance purchases came to $288,000. BCDC has put the vessel in storage and insured it. Plans are to display the boat as a tourism focal point in the future.
A gofundme fundraiser is now underway by BCDC for the purchase cost. As of Dec. 11, $1,150 has been raised.
Theriault says that COVID-19 has “kind of put the brakes on the wheel that was turning.”
“It’s an extremely good project,” he says.
Several artisans have approached BCDC to say they would be willing to help finish the boat, which is 90-95 per cent done. It needs to be finished inside as well.
Theriault says it was hoped that the vessel could have been showcased earlier than now. There are plans to put up a multi-purpose building – like a post-and-beam barn ‘experience centre’ – to display the boat in.
“We’re hoping to have construction underway maybe next year if we can come up with a design and a concept that we can all live with and from there initiate an application through government levels for funds,” he says.
Nil Doucet, councillor with the Municipality of Clare says it’s a big project.
“We’re hoping it’s going to come true at some point. Maybe before the Congrés Mondial in 2024. Hopefully the government can kick in, provincially, federally and municipally.
MORE INFO
To donate to the Stella Maris fundraiser, click here.
Also, visit the Belliveau Cove Development Commission website.