A & B Classic Boatworks – Rockport, ME
Going out Route 90 from Rockport to Warren Bruce Malone, a boatbuilder, had a small shop. He has since retired and the sign disappeared. I heard that there was someone else running the shop and I was glad I stopped by. The new owners who are leasing the buildings, Brad Ellsworth and Andy Watras, have an excellent operation with some interesting projects underway.
Both Andy and Brad have been involved in boats for a long, long time, but they were in transition and wanted to do something different. They had been maintaining high-end boats for a number of customers and when this shop became available, they jumped at the chance. Brian said, “We already had some pre-existing clients that we maintained their boats for and/or that wanted restoration. We just want to have a small crew and just build some beautiful stuff. Our background goes way back to schooners and beyond that. We just wanted a chance to be able to do it on our terms, not somebody else’s. That is kind of how we got to where we are at now. We’re trying to keep it classic wooden boats, but the reality isn’t that, and that is why we have the 38 here now.”
The 38 is a Holland 38, which will be finished off as a high-end cruiser for a customer from California. They have some structural fiberglass work to do, but it is the joiner work they are really looking forward to. This boat arrived about two months ago and will be one of the major projects this winter.
Next to the 38 is an interesting wooden boat, named FREDDIE. She was built at Bath Iron Works in Bath for the Woolworth family in 1932. She would be used at their lake estate on Cobbosseccontee Lake in Manchester. She is 26-feet in length with a beam of 9½ feet and was used for fishing and cruising around the lake. Unfortunately, there is not much else known about the boat and when she arrived, she was in pretty poor condition. FREDDIE is now owned by another person who lives on Cobbosseccontee Lake. He remembered the boat when he was a little boy on the lake. Years later he saw her listed for sale in Craigslist and knew exactly what boat she was. So, when they got this place, it was the right time, and he wanted to go forward with the project. When you do a restoration project you hope for designs or photographs, but there were none. They planked her traditionally over the frames and fastened with rivets. They did change a few things, integrating some higher-tech processes, like marine plywood for the sub decking. Normally, it would have been a straight laid deck. They were making her a little bit better with these materials so she will last longer. They did have an interesting visitor at the end of July, Freddie’s daughter. She had heard that the boat was at their shop and wanted to see the progress of the rebuild and she was very pleased at what they had done. FREDDIE is close to being finished and is basically a new boat. The only original piece left was her sheer clamp, which was in good condition.
In the side shop are two 30-foot Elco fiberglass launches, which had been purchased from the Ford estate. The owner had purchased three of them and had one redone in New York. They removed everything, taking them back to a bare hull. Brian explained, “They were built for passenger, so they are U. S. Coast Guard certified vessels and built per their requirements. We are making all new mahogany coamings, new decking, no butt blocks, everything is like it is supposed to be. She is going to have a new electric motor, new batteries, basically going to be a complete refit.”
Another interesting project they just completed was a cold moulded cat’s paw dinghy. They are usually lapstrake or carvel, but this customer wanted one to sit on his 70-foot sailboat. He really wanted a wood boat, but that was not really going to work sitting on deck. Andy and Brian explained to him that cold moulding was the way to go.
There are several people looking to do other major projects this winter, but nothing is confirmed as of yet. One is to replace the launch on the schooner MARY DAY.
Billing’s Diesel & Marine – Stonington
Inside the main mechanical shop, they have the Maine Marine Patrol’s boat GUARDIAN. Five or six years ago she was in to be repowered and this time they are changing the accommodations in the pilothouse and some cosmetics.
The summer is always busy, especially the mechanics. Lobster fishing started out a little slower due to the colder winter and many did not launch until later in the spring. They have just now started to see some of the fishermen coming in to have repair work done on something that broke, when asked if they had seen much from the transients, Greg Sanborn, head of the mechanical department, said, “Nothing so far. Seems like things got a late start on the summer boat traffic, plus we have had a lot of fog. There is traffic around now.”
During the winter they repowered a Young Brothers 45. They removed a C12 Caterpillar and replaced it with a D13 Volvo, added a new generator and radar stand with all kinds of lights. This was one of about six they did last winter mostly on lobster boats. They repowered two yachts with Yanmars over the winter. Another boat they worked on was a quahog boat, a BHM 36, from New Jersey, who got a QSL 9 Cummins along with wiring.
There is seldom any down time in the engine department. Usually there are two boats in the shop, maybe a couple outside on the hard and another on the dock waiting to be fixed. Billings has one of the best reputations around for their engine work. Greg was certainly not worried about the winter as there are always a number of boats needing mechanical work. The problem is finding the time to get it all done. He said he already had two repowers to do and expected that number to at least triple before the snow flies.
Wound-Up Marine – Boothbay, Maine
Like all other yards on the coast of Maine, the big push was getting all the storage boats in the yard ready for the summer season. They have already done a couple of repowers earlier this summer and have been out on a few mobile maintenance calls. Now they are just trying to work on their own boats and enjoy the summer for the next couple of weeks then it will be back to mobile maintenance.
In the main shop John Albaum, owner of Wound-Up Marine, has his boat. He explained, “This is a mid-80s 32-foot Bayliner that I picked up out of Kennebunkport with a blown engine. We brought it home on one, stripped most of the carpet out down forward and hauled the engines and fuel tanks out over the winter. So, she is getting new fuel tanks, new engines and then hopefully we will be doing some camping with the family.”
He is hoping to have her in the water the middle of August, but that will all depend on customers having issues.
There has not been too much mobile maintenance, but John thought that was due to the late summer start due to the rainy weather on the weekends. He added that the last couple of weeks in July their mobile work has picked up quite a bit. What is interesting is that most of the problems have been related to water in the fuel. He said, “Every year seems to be different. I was talking to a guy down at New Meadows Marine the other day and he says it is cyclical. Some years you have got water pump issues and other years you have got something else. This year we have had a fair amount of water in the fuel. Other than that, a lot of easy stuff, like, ‘my boat won’t start,’ ‘is it in neutral,’ ‘jiggle the shifter,’ so not too many big projects.”
One project that John was involved in last winter was the repowering of the cruise boat BENNIE ALICE of Boothbay at Royal River Boat Yard. John assisted the owner of the boat as a project manager between him and Freeport Diesel and Marine who was repowering the boat. John added, “We ended up hauling the boat out down at Royal River Boat Yard and they both did the whole repower and did a hell of a good job on an old boat like that. She had a pair of 671 Detroits that were still running, but old and parts were hard to come by. Freeport Diesel put in a new pair of Cummins. They also did the whole bilge manifold and ended up painting the engine room. So, it was a big job. I was just making sure everybody was on the same page and keeping the Coast Guard in the loop because it is K boat so it can carry 199 passengers.”
When asked about winter work, John said that he was not thinking about that at the moment. He said that a couple of people have talked about repowering. He added, “We did a big job last year. We took a Ford Lehman out and put another Ford Lehman back in, but they were different models. It was supposed to be like a two-week job, and it ended up being a six. It put us behind on everything. This year we are not looking at taking on any big jobs. We much prefer to try and do all the maintenance that some of the people have been pushing off. There are one or two boats that probably need to get tanks and all that stuff. But when you get into the late fall and somebody wants to repower, it is hard to say no to a good job like that.”
Some yards have already started to haul customers back out for the winter and John thought it was hard to think about that in early August.
