Davis Small Craft, North Yarmouth
On my visit to Six River Marine in North Yarmouth I met Elijah Davis of Davis Small Craft, who has rented space from them. He is in the process of building an Acorn 17, which is an Acorn 15 stretched. He is outfitting her for coastal and road cruising, which means he will fit her with a deck and dry storage. She will have two rowing stations and removable sliding seats with an optional sailing rig. There were a couple of people interested in this boat, but they disappeared, so she is available. Elijah is hoping to have her done later this spring and have it at a couple of shows this summer.
Elijah is also building furniture, having just finished a deck. Right now, he is working on four doors. He is also installing windows and doors and he obtains a lot of other work from these projects. This aspect of the business is keeping him busy.
Downeast Custom Boats, Yarmouth
The 36-foot ROYAL has gotten her new keel. Now they are lining it up and making sure everything fits. They had already primed the area with four coats of primer. Once everything is lined up, they would be ready to bolt the floor timbers down. Fortunately, they only needed to replace several floors as the others were still in good shape. He replaced two in the aft section and another two under the engine.
They have already started cutting rib stock for the ribs they need to replace. Joe Lowell added, “I am ribbing from the forward part of the dead wood aft and once I start doing that then I can take out the stem and fore foot and get that fitted out. We also built a new steam box and that is ready to go. We have got a couple distiller barrels with five hose attachments and hopefully that blows a good head of steam through the whole thing. I used to use a becket burner on a barrel with an expansion tank and that really worked well.”
When the framing is done, they will start on the planking. About half of the original planks are good so the rest will be replaced and then they will begin on the interior and cabin.
They also need a new engine. She came in with a 260-hp Cummins and that was sold to a fisherman in Jonesport. The owner is talking about a Yanmar, but he has not settled on which one.
HARPOON, a Lowell built cruiser, was on hold during the winter, but they are back finishing up that project. The keel is almost back together and then they will replace 18 ribs in the stern. This will be followed by replanking the stern. The stem and fore foot are out and Joe is waiting for a piece of wood so he can finish and reinstall this.
Outside there is a wooden Calvin Beal 32, which had been down in Marshfield, MA for a while. She is now owned by a fisherman here in Maine and he is having the keel worked on. Joe explained, “I am just going to do the lower section where they put these arrow-head pieces in. We are going to put a whole length piece on. Then we are going to cut in a stern post to tie it all together and that way he can go with a more standard box. The owner is going to do the rest of it himself.”
Off to the side of the shop there is a 30-foot inboard/outboard Arno Day cruiser built in 1970. The owner was from New York and wanted to find her a good home and it is now Joe’s. He said that there is some work to do on the fore foot, which this year he said, “I am just going to put a piece in, glue it and rebolt it.”
She will also need a good paint job and next year Joe is hoping to do some refastening in the stern.
Fogg Boatworks, North Yarmouth
In the shop Patrick Fogg was working on one of their water taxi boats, SILVER LADY, a 28-foot Foggcraft powered with a 200-hp Suzuki. She was getting her annual maintenance, which included going through all the systems and then paint and varnish. This one they also replaced the trim tabs and a transducer.
Before SILVER LADY VESTA MERLE, a 29-foot Foggcraft powered with a 350-hp Suzuki. They went through the systems and gave her a new coat of paint.
These boats run from May to October and only sit docked for a few hours in the middle of the night so they want to make sure they have as few problems as possible during the summer season. Mostly people do not do over 100 hours a year, but these boats are running more than 3,500 hours. What surprised me is that they replace about three outboards a year. Mostly of them with more than 10,000 hours on them.
A major project this winter was rehabbing and modifying the second Foggcraft they built. They have a bay in the barn attached to the house and in there they removed her centre console and Patrick designed a full cabin. Patrick said, “I redesigned that basically from the deck up and so we went right through it. We put a new cabin on, new seating, brand new full paint job, all new electrical and systems and fuel tank. We did a walk-through cabin on it. So, it’s got a front door you walk right through to the seating and deck space up forward which the owner was looking for. He wanted more seating, more cover to keep out of the weather. Basically, he has a brand-new boat.”
SILVER LADY had just a few more days in the shop and then MARTINE was coming in. She is a 28-foot Foggcraft with a 300-hp Suzuki. There is nothing major to do just her usual maintenance.
CASCO BAY CAT, 46-foot power catamaran with a walk-around deck and powered with two 300-hp Suzukis, was recently hauled out at Yankee Marina in Yarmouth. They did the bottom, some steering work, went through the systems and did some cosmetic work. She is already back in the water and ready for summer.
Their 50-foot Navy launch UB85 JOSEPH P. KENNEDY was built in 1985 and last year they fitted her out as a charter boat for Casco Bay. Patrick added, “Last year was the first year for that one for us. She wasn’t quite ready until maybe the first of August. We ripped out and did brand new electrical system, wheelhouse on it, redid all the seating, stuff like that. This will be next on the list to go through. We will haul her out of the water, bottom, topsides, and go through all her systems. I think she is also due for Coast Guard inspection.”
Friendship Boat Works, Friendship, Maine
Presently they are finishing off a Calvin Beal 42 as a split wheelhouse lobster boat for a fisherman from Providence, Rhode Island. She has a simple interior with a V-berth and a couple of cabinets for wiring and hydraulics. In the wheelhouse is shelving and storage. She is powered with a 675-hp Scania with a six-foot Soundown muffler in her exhaust system. Under the platform she has a 400-gallon fuel tank. She sports a tailgate operated with a chain. Randy Young, who runs the shop added, “Actually the style of the boat is beautiful. I love the way the wheelhouse is, it looks really good. The hull is beautiful. I like the depth and the width. This is my first one and it is beautiful.”
When I was at the shop they were fairing in the cockpit and were about sixty percent done and figured just another couple of days and they were done with this. Then the electrician could come in and start wiring.
The owner will be using her for lobstering and some rod and reel charter fishing in and outside of Narragansett Bay.
Next, they will be bringing in Randy’s grandson’s 40-footer powered with a 675-hp Scania. They are going to install a lobster locker in the centre of the platform. This will be followed by a Young Brothers 36 for some minor work and a hull for some gel-coat work. Randy added, “As far as new sales go, it ain’t looking good. I am concerned about the interest rates they are charging for the loans right now.”
Holland Boat Shop, Belfast
They have four boats in the main shop. One the left side in front they have a Holland 38 hull being finished out as a high-end cruiser for a customer from San Diego. Glenn said, “We have got more than it looks because the whole deck and top is all built, we just haven’t put it on yet. We are just in the process of putting the engine in.”
Due to the lack of crew, they are running between boats trying to get something done on each of them. The Holland 32 in the corner on the right side is getting close to being finished. She is being fitted out as a day boat going to a customer on Long Island, New York. She is powered with a 550-hp Cummins and sports a simple interior, with a V-berth, head, and seating. They still have the mechanical and system hook-ups to do, install the windows and then Navtronics from Front Street Shipyard will come over and do the electronics. The owner of this boat has a 100-foot Viking sportfisherman and just wanted a boat that he could take out by himself. He is also thinking of ordering a Holland 14 too.
The 32 in front will be heading to Falmouth as a very basic dayboat powered with a 355-hp Cummins. Down below she will have just a simple V-berth just in case they want or must spend the night some place. The owners of this boat formerly had a Duffy 35 cruiser, which they cruised extensively in. They still want to run around Casco Bay and just do not need all the appointments of a full cruiser.
As for 14s, they still have six or eight on order. Glenn felt that as soon as they get down to just a couple on order another bunch get ordered. What surprises Glenn is that almost every one of them is custom. He said, “I am surprised how much customizing they want to do on such a little damn boat. They are reinventing the wheel all the time on the damn things.”
In the layup shop they have two 14s underway, but they are really concentrating on the boats in the main shop.
They still have two 32s on order and Glenn really wants to get the mould finished on the 20. They started fairing, but it still needs a lot more before they can take a mould off. He said, “I had to put it outside last fall because we ran out of room to work on it in here. I just really didn’t have time to work on it. Got to work on the paying things instead of that,” explained Glenn.
The last time I was talking with Glenn he mentioned that he could make his boats act just like a wooden boat in the water. There is no question that there is a huge difference between the two and it is said that if a fisherman wants to add ten years to his fishing life, work out of a wooden boat. Glenn did not want to offer specifics, but did say, “There were a couple things Royal (Lowell) said to do so it had the feel of a wooden boat and he was right. We did it on the original 30 and then we did it on the 32. I have had customers tell me they actually feel like a wooden boat. There are a few little tricks, but if I tell you, I will have to kill you. The man (Royal) knew what the hell he was doing. When he told me something I listened. I figured he knew more about this than I did and he did, probably still does. Years ago, I used to get paid for what I was doing, now I get paid for what I know and I am going broke.”
The Landing School, Arundel
Under the direction of Sean Fawcett, President, the Landing School in Arundel, Maine is pleased to announce the addition of two new team members, Peter Worthington as a third Marine Systems Instructor, and Reis Hagerman as Admissions Manager, to the staff.
“We are very excited to have Pete and Reis joining The Landing School crew. As we continue to build our “boatyard model” instructional paradigm it is essential that we grow our team with seasoned industry experts such as Pete and Reis’s extensive career in post-secondary admissions management assures that new Landing School receive the highest quality attention. Welcome Pete and Reis!”, noted Fawcett.
Peter Worthington
Marine Systems Instructor
Peter Worthington joins the Marine Systems faculty as an additional instructor to work alongside Zachary Volpicelli and Harrison Ringel. His role includes lecturing, leading discussions, conducting interactive demonstrations, and organizing lab exercises.
His previous work experience includes 14 years of teaching AP Physics to high schoolers, 4 years of engineering, and nearly 24 years of technical work experience in marine propulsion and systems trades.
“It’s really great to be back in the classroom and an excellent Marine Mechanic Shop. The staff here at TLS, both teachers and administration, are so amazing friendly, experienced and team orientated. The quality and spirit is clearly demonstrated in the student body that is diverse, eager to learn, and sprinkled with a few real “characters”. Characters make life interesting! I hope to bring some character and my own desire to learn, my passion for connecting with students through physical theory and shop work but most importantly connect with them as a teacher-mentor within a creative and highly instructive environment that’s focused on the diagnostic part of Marine Propulsion and Systems work.” If you would like to contact Peter, you can contact him via email pworthington@landingschool.edu.
Reis Hagerman
Admissions Manager
Reis joins the Landing School to recruit prospective students and manage the admissions team and process for the school. His main objective is to maximize enrollment by increasing exposure to the school to drive applications, while working closely with the President, Sean Fawcett.
In Reis’s previous career, he focused on management, admissions, and financial aid in post-secondary education. His previous positions include Vice President of Enrollment Management and Vice President/Dean of Campus Life at Saint Joseph’s College.
Hagerman states, “I hope to bring my strong desire to work with prospective students (and their families) with determining if The Landing School is the right fit for their very successful future. I find it highly rewarding assisting students through the admissions and financial aid processes. My background includes many years of Admission Management experience having worked at very small private colleges (two of which are right here in Maine). I enjoy the interacting with students, faculty, and administrative colleagues as well as Guidance Counselors & Career Advisors in the industry. I am excited to have joined The Landing School Community as it feels like a close-knit group that truly cares about the students that are here studying and preparing for the next chapter of their lives. It feels like a good fit, and I am very pleased to be here!” If you would like to contact Reis, you can reach him at rhagerman@landingschool.edu
Samoset Boat Works, Boothbay
Early in April one of the first new boats to be launched this year hit the water. She was a Mussel Ridge 42 finished out as a split wheelhouse lobster boat for Nick Saunders of Stonington. Nick was looking to upgrade from a Mitchell Cove and had seen ALLISON ANN, which is a Mussel Ridge 48 that Samoset finished off several years ago, and liked how she was finished. Nick called Matt Sledge, owner of Samoset Boatworks, and they discussed what he wanted, when the hull kit would be ready and did Matt have an opening. An agreement was reached and the hull arrived at the shop last year.
DOUBLE DOWN is powered with a D13 700-hp Scania. Down below is simple with a V-berth, hydro-locker and an electronics cabinet, and a cabinet for a microwave and Keurig. In the engine room there are four 8D batteries, two for engine start and two for the house. There are two pacer pumps on the portside with a rope locker to starboard.
One thing the crew quickly noticed is that there was a window on the portside aft of the split wheelhouse giving you great visibility from the outside hauling station.
There is no question that Nick has a boat with a lot more creature comforts, more deck space, built tough and this will allow him to stay out fishing longer.
Now in the shop is LETTIE ELISE, Eben Wilson’s Young Brothers 45, in for a major upgrade. They will remove her 650-hp Volvo, which has more than 22,000 hours on it and she will be repowered with an 800-hp MAN. They will also add a split wheelhouse and this means ripping up the deck, house, and bulkhead. When changing the bulkhead, they are going to change the portside companionway to centreline. This will allow them to put the inside steering station on the portside. It is nice that the new engine is smaller than the one being removed, but there are still changes to be made. They have to replace the engine mounts, move some thru hulls, increase the raw water intake, and change from a dry to wet exhaust system. They are also going to replace all the hydraulics and electronics.
This all needs to be done before June as there is another Mussel Ridge 42 kit showing up to be finished off. Another one was supposed to have already arrived and is in the end bay. The first one is being finished off as a tuna boat going to Massachusetts and the second is also a tuna boat, going to Rhode Island. The first one will be powered with an 800-hp Scania and the other with an 1,150-hp Scania.
Shawn Snow, Brooksville
Shawn is presently laying up a Northern Bay 38, which is being stretched to about 41. They have already laid up the extension and the hull is done and they are putting in the stringers. They have already done one of these and that one went to Boricua Boat Works in Steuben. This one is going to Sargent Custom Boats in Milbridge and should be ready to ship by the end of April.
In the next bay, Bagaduce Boats is working on SUSPECT, which was built at Boricua Boat Works for Tim Toppins two years ago. She had been owned in the Portsmouth, NH area, but recently she was sold to someone in the mid-coast. They added a stern door and replaced the stern piece of the exhaust that had rusted.
Shawn has been laying up the Webber’s Cove hulls and Sargent Custom Boats but wants to concentrate on his moulds. He also got a call from another builder who wanted him to lay up some of their hulls. However, if you add too much work you have to find employees and that could come with more issues and Shawn would love to avoid issues.
Shawn thought there was another 41 and a 23 to do and that would keep him busy for the next couple of months.
Six River Marine, North Yarmouth
As they renovate another space for a new tenant, they are working on LITTLE BUTTERCUP, which is a McKenzie Cuttyhunk. They have replaced the rail at the chine and then she needs her annual maintenance and she is ready for the water.
In front of her is a little plywood hydroplane. The owner called her a Western, but Scott said that he did a Google search and nothing came up. He did find that Western Union sold kit boats like this in the early ‘50s and figures this is what she is. She is powered with a 25-hp Evinrude Aquasonic outboard, which should be more than enough to pull a tube behind it. They are replacing the transom and doing some bottom work on her.
In the back of the shop is a Sisu 26 bass style runabout. This is one of their friend’s projects, who had said she was a cream puff and did not need anything done to her. He has removed the platform and replaced it, cut out her transom and will add doors that open in and put a swim platform on.
At the end of winter, they took the Albury skiff to West Palm Beach, Florida, which they had been rebuilding the last few years. She was a total restoration saving just the windshield and weather deck. She was powered with a 200-hp Yamaha and during sea trials with the owner they had her up to 45 mph. The owner was more than pleased, but rather cruise at 25 mph.
Woodman Boats, Kennebunkport
On my way from Kennebunkport to Cape Porpoise I have always wanted to stop at a shop halfway between. I had got an email around the first of the year from the shop’s owner Richard Woodman that he had a Booth Chick built lobster boat named MELODY in for a total rehab and that really sparked my interest. My problem is that I run by the shop at noon and some go to lunch, but this last time there was Richard’s pickup. However, when I got in the shop there was a schooner and the lobster boat was outside covered up.
The schooner in the shop is ELIZABETH and belongs to Richard. He said, “The last day of January I checked on the boat and everything was fine. I found out 45 minutes later that the lift dock had failed in one corner and she went tumbling backwards and punched a hole through her, kind of like a cannon ball, above the waterline. When she settled back on the transom she staved the rudder up. A quick call to Keeley Crane and we got her out into the parking lot and then trucked up to my boat shop. I went from restoring a beautiful wooden lobster boat, steam bending frames, having fun to grinding fiberglass. We are over the hump now. I thought about it afterwards and we are fortunate. She didn’t have her rig in. If she did that would have either shock loaded and/or when the crane got there then hmmmm, how do we do this. I only take the rig out every five years or so, so we hit on the right number. I also had backed her in this year. Normally she sits bow into the parking lot but I backed her in because my spring project was to redo the transom. It needed to be stripped and varnished after 20 years.”
“Christian McAvoy vacuum bagged the layers and stuff for me,” continued Richard. “He was a guy I had worked with at the Landing School. He got it to the point where I have been puttying for several days. I am going to roll out one more coat of gray tonight and then we will use Epiphanes polyurethane, which does a pretty nice job.”
Richard has also done some other maintenance since she was in the shop, which she needed after more than 20 years of chartering. He removed about 23 years of bottom paint, there were a couple of small hits to the bottom, and several other smaller jobs. He even got help from his son, Sam, and a friend of his.
ELIZABETH was designed by L. Francis Herreshoff and is called a Mobjack. Richard added, “This mould to the Mobjack was in production somewhere down in the Carolinas or Florida, probably in the 70s. I don’t think it ever went too far from what I could trace. They might have made maybe a dozen of them. A guy here in Maine got wind of it and had the mould trucked up and was going to build his own yacht and it sat in Arundel until he died. It tumbled over and there was a cracked midships when I got wind of it. I was kind of in disbelief that it was a Herreshoff. The lines were in Herreshoff’s book, “Sensible Cruising Designs,” so I made some patterns from inside the mould and they fit. That also opened a pathway for the Coast Guard to say alright you are building this hull and we can do our calculation. Dwight Raymond of Performance Marine built the hull. It was a very well-built mould, but it pitted and rather than repairing the mould we Awlgripped her. Then we built a building on the Log Cabin Road here in Arundel and finished the boat.”
As for the lobster boat she is just waiting to come back in the shop when time allows. She was built by Booth Chick of Kennebunkport for Gary McLain of Cape Porpoise in 1969. He used her for lobstering and tub trawling and when he could not fish anymore his son Harrison fished her. One time she came in loaded with 3,500 pounds of haddock after a day tub trawling. Richard said, “She is cedar on oak and it was bronze fastened, so it had a chance, but it needed frames all in the turn. The transom frame was actually okay. The transom was mahogany so I started there and worked my way forward. I got just about a third of the way forward, all new frames and floor timbers. The planking is decent and I think once I get where the cabin is forward, the frames are going to be fine. Might have to do some refastening. She was always the prettiest lobster boat in Cape Porpoise, the big flare and strong shear. I will get back to it in the fall.”
Richard also has a client that wants to have one of the first Chris Crafts, which were called numbered boats, come in to be restored. The owner even has the original Curtis OX5 engine, which has already been rebuilt. This will be a real interesting project.
