A group of volunteers working to preserve a replica of the Hector say the vessel is in worse shape than they first thought and is springing with money troubles.

The original Hector landed in Pictou harbour in 1773, bringing 189 settlers to start the first Scottish settlement in an area long populated by Mi'kmaq people. More than twenty years ago some of their descendants started to build a replica.

"The ship has never been completed," said Keith Matheson. He heads a community group trying to keep the dream alive.

Matheson said the money ran out before the Hector was seaworthy.

The masts and rigging lay on the ground, which Matheson said is routine maintenance on other ships but "it hasn’t been done since it was put up 11 years ago."

"But we are going to need a huge influx of help and money."

Even the basics are going to cost a lot.

"Three-hundred thousand just to bring her back to where she was when she was abandoned so to speak," said Matheson.

To make the vessel sea worthy it will take at least a $1 million.

"What is the point of building a boat if you don’t intend to sail it?" he asked.

Matheson said his group is trying to raise cash by reaching out to people who care about this history of immigration.