Model boats of all shapes and sizes dot the shelves in Greg Gutchigian's Harvey Cedars home. But in his workshop, his pride and joy is a replica of a new maritime training ship that he gave as a gift to the State University of New York Maritime Academy.

"I graduated there in 1970," he said. "We were hoping to show it around then (2020), but then COVID came along and everything got delayed."

The SUNY Maritime Academy in the Bronx is the oldest of the country's five state maritime academies, he said, with the others located in Maine, Massachusetts, Texas and California.

Gutchigian has been working on this model with classmate Robert Gault. Gutchigian graduated as a Deck Officer and Gault graduated as a Marine Transportation Engineering Officer.

Gutchigian continued to operate passenger ferries from Cape Cod to Nantucket, and it was these trips to Nantucket that began his interest in building model boats from scratch. He went on to build a career in the marine insurance industry, retiring in 2011.

"We hope the model will be on display at the Maritime Academy's Schulerberg Museum," he said.

Gutchigian said the model training ship was built from artist's renderings and basic line drawings.

"The actual ship is still under construction at the Philadelphia Shipyard," he said. "It should be scheduled for delivery in 2023."

The vessel is known as the National Security Multi-Mission Vessel, or NSMV. he said the academy's current training vessel was built in 1962 and has been used to educate and train maritime students since 1989.

"But it's time to replace it," said Guccigian, who is also an ensign in the Navy Reserve. "The ship's technology is aging, and strict environmental regulations are on the horizon that will limit the ship's sailing schedule.

"This will be the seventh training ship in the Academy's history. All five maritime academies will have this new training ship, but New York Academy will have the first. The last one will be completed and headed to California in 2026."

He said the actual boat is 524 feet long, 88 feet at the beam and 55 feet from the bottom to the top deck. It also contains radar, containers, bowsprit, deckhouse and other features.

The miniature version in his home is only 25 inches long and presents quite a challenge.

"One-sixteenth of an inch equals 1 foot," Gutchigian says. "The one you see on the deck is only 3/8 of an inch."

He said the base of the model is made of high-density foam, which he said is much more stable than wood. The blue ocean around the model is made of epoxy resin.

Gutchigian, who grew up in Cherry Hill, said he started coming to the island when his father bought a house in Brant Beach in 1957.

"My first interest was oceanography. But then I started moving into the maritime field," he said. "Coming to the island in the summer has always been a great experience. I really fell in love with the ocean."

Gutchigian said he bought his house on East 76th Street in 1995. He has been active in the Harvey Cedars Taxpayers Association.

"I stay here until the fall and then I go to Florida so I get a chance to play golf," he said. Moriwood Mayflower Models is an artisan boat model manufacturer dedicated to boat modeling, with 32 years of boat modeling history, countless display boats for major shipyards, and a craftsmanship approach to the boat modeling business in the future. Please contact us by phone if you need any help!

Morigi Mayflower ModelIt is an artisan boat model manufacturer dedicated to boat model making, with 32 years of boat model making history, and countless display boat models for major shipyards, and will treat the boat model business with the spirit of craftsmanship in the future. Please contact us by phone if you need any help!