For the time being, the crew at the Boothbay Harbor Shipyard is stuck watching the weather.

That is, until a suitable window opens up to tow a 120-year-old Massachusetts tall ship from two states away to the Harbor.

Crews from the shipyard are preparing to have the schooner Ernestina-Morrissey towed from its current residence in New Bedford, Massachusetts, up to Boothbay Harbor, where it will undergo a series of renovations.

Shipyard General Manager Eric Graves said the wild winter weather has made that task more complicated.

“We've just been waiting for better weather,” Graves said. “We have been watching the forecasts to see when we might have a window.”

Previously, the ship was expected to set out in early January, but the date has been moved up into at least the week of Jan. 19.

When the green light is given, the Ernestina-Morrissey will be towed up the coast by New Bedford's Mitchell Towing & Salvage's tug Leopard.

The trip from New Bedford to Boothbay Harbor is expected to take around 30 hours, Graves said, and the shipyard would want to do it without stopping.

“Hopefully, we won't have to duck out (if the weather turns), but the (Ernestina-Morrissey) should be good for the trip,” he said. “We're going to hug the coast all the way back.”

A small crew from the shipyard will make the journey on the Ernestina-Morrissey to ensure the bowline doesn't get caught on anything. Graves said the ship will be carrying a generator and a tent typically used for ice fishing, so the crew can keep warm.

Once in Boothbay Harbor, the Ernestina-Morrissey will undergo $6,000,000 in renovations. The contract, which is the largest for the shipyard, was awarded to Boothbay Harbor Shipyard in November from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Once the Ernestina-Morrissey is at the shipyard, it is expected to be there for several years as shipyard crews make repairs above and below the waterline.

The Ernestina-Morrissey was first launched from James & Tarr in Essex, Massachusetts and had an assorted past as a transport ship for immigrants, to a fishing vessel, to making it within 600 miles of the North Pole.

Because of the scope of the project, the shipyard is expected to add jobs and will post information outside of the ship so visitors can get a closer look at the official tall ship of Massachusetts.

The shipyard has previously worked on the tall ship in 2008-09.