At John’s Bay Boat Company in South Bristol they have a 34-foot lobster boat under construction for owner Peter Kass.
This is a South Shore 42 being finished off as a sportfisherman for a customer from New York by A. R. Kennedy in Steuben.
A. R. Kennedy, Steuben, ME
In the first bay they have a South Shore 42, which they are finishing out as a custom tuna sportfish boat for a customer from New York. Roger Kennedy, owner of the shop, added, “It is going to have everything that you could possibly stuff in a 42-foot boat. It is going to have everything. It should have been a 50, but I think we are going to get it all to fit, but it has been a challenge.
Down forward there are two berths, one above the other, a full head with shower, then storage cabinets and rod holders. There is a very spartan galley, which consists of a refrigerator and sink and a settee to port. They are installing air conditioning for down forward and up in the shelter.
Under the platform in the engine compartment there is a generator, two sets of 8D batteries, and an extra battery, storage for milk crates, a 40-gallon water tank on each platform side of the engine, port and starboard, and a sea chest hooked to the live-well and tanks. Aft of this there is a 115-inch fish hold, ice hold, and a 120-gallon live-well and another live-well at the transom.
The top came from Sargent Custom Boats in Milbridge, who owns the South Shore 42 moulds, but was laid up at H&H Marine across the street.
This boat is powered with a C16 1,000-hp FPT and even though she is going to be a heavy boat, South Shore hulls slide pretty well, and they figure she should cruise between 20-22 and top out at 28-30 knots. She will have three steering stations, one in the shelter, one at the aft end of the house and another at the stern.
They started this project in July and are hoping to have her ready for the water mid to late spring.
Coming soon will be a Wayne Beal 36, with hard-chines, which will be finished off as a basic all composite split wheelhouse lobster boat for Roger’s son, Lance. Roger has the Crowley 36 moulds, but his son wanted more beam and deeper than the Crowley 36 are. Lance is a sophomore at Maine Maritime Academy and Roger thinks that when he graduates, he will ship out for a while but then end up lobster fishing. Right now, he is fishing out of a Jim Beal 31, but later in the season when he is shifting gear further out, he finds that she is just too small. The hull they hope will arrive in early December and they will build it together, nights and weekends.
They have several boats coming in for makeovers. One is the Northern Bay 38 JANICE ELAINE. A few years ago, she was in for an engine upgrade, but they did not do much cosmetic work, even though the owner keeps his boat in very good condition.
They also have a Young Brothers 42 and Wayne Beal 42 coming in. The Wayne Beal needs her fuel tank replaced and they are going to cut out the stern.
It is going to be a busy winter.
General Dynamics Bath Iron Works Breaks Ground on Workforce Housing
General Dynamics Bath Iron Works formally broke ground on a workforce housing development at 150 Congress Avenue in Bath, Maine. With funding support from the United States Navy and General Dynamics, BIW has teamed up with Developers Collaborative, an experienced, Maine-based housing company, to invest in the construction of 84 apartments which will be available in mid-2027.
“Supporting our shipbuilders and making it easier for people to become shipbuilders is important to the long-term strength of our company and to our national defense,” said BIW President Charles F. Krugh. “Helping make housing more attainable will help us retain and attract a world-class team and benefit the community of Bath as well.”
These new apartments – studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units – will be close enough to walk or bike to the main shipyard on Washington Street. BIW is also working with the City of Bath to have the local city bus connect shipbuilders with the Main Yard to reduce traffic on local roads.
“The city of Bath is deeply important to the United States Navy,” said Arleigh Burke class destroyer (DDG 51) Program Manager Captain Jay Young. “Our investments in the ‘City of Ships’ reflect our commitment to this community and recognize its dedication to our nation’s security. Access to affordable housing will empower the next generation of shipbuilders to make Bath their home.”
This project benefits from Navy funding to support the defense industry workforce, funding which was advocated for by Maine’s congressional delegation. That same workforce investment enabled BIW to partner with the Bath Area YMCA to open a new childcare facility in Brunswick last month, and to expand the Y’s existing Bath program, creating a total of 150 new childcare spaces for BIW families.
Like the childcare partnership with the Y, BIW employees will have first priority for leasing an apartment, with any unused capacity available for personnel from the Navy’s Supervisor of Shipbuilding and the public. The expectation is that the apartments will be most helpful to new shipbuilders and those commuting more than an hour each way to work.
In addition to Louis H. Wilson Jr., Bath Iron Works currently has under construction the Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class destroyers Harvey C. Barnum Jr. (DDG 124) and Patrick Gallagher (DDG 127) as well as the Flight III destroyers William Charette (DDG 130), Quentin Walsh (DDG 132), John E. Kilmer (DDG 134), Richard G. Lugar (DDG 136) and J. William Middendorf (DDG 138).
Brion Rieff, Brooklin, ME
The big project is the construction of a 55-foot powerboat. Her hull starts out looking like a monohull forward, but transitions into a catamaran as you move aft. She was designed by Brion as a fast ferry or a fast-fishing boat two years ago. She has minimal wetted surface area, and weighs half of what a comparable 55-foot fiberglass boat would weigh. She will be powered with 600-hp outboards and a bow thruster. Her owner is having her built as a day cruising picnic boat with a center console. The owner owns a resort in southern New Jersey and will be using it to get around and as a party boat.
Since she will be used for passenger carrying, she is being inspected by the U. S. Coast Guard periodically. Her construction consists of plywood bulkhead and frames, plywood bottom, cedar, and mahogany cold moulded topsides, all wood, no fiberglass.
They started construction of parts and pieces last year and began setting up the station moulds for the hull last spring. She will be mostly open cockpit with a large centre console and not much of an interior. The seating will likely be commercially available seating. This will cut down on the build time. They are hoping to have her done late summer or fall of next year.
Next to the 55-footer is a 34-foot brigantine, designed by David Wyman of Castine. She is constructed with plywood frames and bulkheads with cedar strip planking. The keel, which is built of Sepo, is almost ready to go on. This project was started about a year ago. At that time, they were building KISMET, which has been written up in the newest issue of WoodenBoat magazine, and refurbishing a Herreshoff Alerion. The Alerion had been built by Proper Yachts and the decks, which were of balsa core, needed to be replaced. Brion was on his way back from Minnesota when I was at the yard with another Alerion. The owner has decided he is getting up in years and it is time to sell her.
Brooklin Boat Yard, Brooklin, ME
One of the busiest boatbuilders on the coast has to be this yard. Presently, they have two 47 footers on the main shop floor. The first is a Will Sturdy designed Downeast cruiser. The hull has been completed and faired and was ready to be rolled over. However, there was a major problem, there is an 80-foot Trumpy in front of the door, which will need to be moved so she can be brought out and rolled. Once rolled over they will install the engine. Back several months they started building parts and pieces for her interior on the third floor. It was felt that the boat was about forty percent complete with a planned launch in late spring.
The other 47 is also a Will Sturdy design, an Eggemoggin 47 sailboat. Workers were working on building her cold moulded hull. Other workers up in the Odd Fellow’s Hall were building her interior joiner work. They felt that they would have the hull done early in November and at that point they would roll the hull over and begin putting the interior in. She was scheduled to be launched late spring.
Also on the main shop floor is a Canadian 7 meter, which does not look like a typical metre boat, which is having her hull repaired. She was designed by a Canadian and raced there for a number of years on the lakes. She was sold and moved to Massachusetts. In 2015 or 2016 she was restored. She got a new engine, mast, winches, and sails. The new owner sailed her for a season and then abandoned her in a boat yard on Cape Cod. With no one paying the bills the yard was going to cut her up. Brooklin Boat Yard had a customer who was looking for a mid-sized sailboat, and they took him down to see it and he purchased her. To get her out of the yard they had to hire a crane and lift her onto a boat trailer for her ride to the yard this summer. She needed some small repairs to the deadwood, and they splined her topsides before putting on a layer of glass. This boat has some prevenance as there are two autographs on her bulkhead, Brad Pitt and Kate Blanchette, when the boat was used in the movie “Benjamin Button.”
ISABELLE was in last year for a major refit and she is back again for some minor repairs. She needs a new teak deck and some upgraded systems.
PT-3 has arrived at the yard, and they and the owner are progressing on this project. The owner has agreed to a design contract, and this will be handled by Will Sturdy and the rest of the design team. This is being done so they know how they are going to rebuild her. PT boats were powered with Packard engines, and this has been the subject of the most recent discussions. They are trying to determine whether they will go with an original set up, or a more modernized version (fuel injection), which looks exactly the same as the original engines.
This yard has always amazed me with the quality of their workers. There are some workers that have been there for decades and some right out of high school looking to work in the trade. Brian Larkin, president of the yard, said, “I think the word spread about the culture here…what Joel and then Steve (White) created. I think one of my biggest challenges in moving forward with this yard is not to lose that, get corporate and get too focused on the money and the glitz and glamour and forget our roots. I just hired a young guy from MDI. His father worked at Hinckley for 30 years. He’s just 30, but he has done quite a bit around boats, a good sailor, perfect, just what we want. These young guys are different, because they have different work standards, they come in with new ideas, and some older guys don’t like change. I think it is better for us because we’re so diverse. It is not like we are just building traditional boats and finally moving into high-tech. We keep one foot in each world. We are still doing traditional, cold moulding and carbon hybrids. I don’t think there are a lot of other people doing that. It has been since Steve really took over in the early 90s that we have been that way.”
H & H Marine, Steuben, ME
There are four boats on the floor in the main shop. They have an Osmond 27, hull and top, but they are waiting for the owner to decide what he wants them to do next.
Next to her is an Osmond 32, which has been finished out as a yacht committee boat for the Amagansett Yacht Club on Long Island, New York. Down below she has a berth, an enclosed head, then up in the shelter there is a settee and on a flybridge with wrap-around seating. She was almost finished and was expected to be sea trialed the end of October.
Next to her is an Osmond 29, which they are installing a crash and main bulkhead, framing in the platform, with the owner finishing the rest.
At the far end of the shop, they have Provincial 43 from New Bedford, MA, which they are adding six feet to the stern and house.
In the layup shop they have an Osmond 47 in the mould, which will be going to Sargent Custom Boats in Milbridge.
Jerome Morris, Modeler, Union, ME
It is always fun to run into Jerome as one never knows what he is working on. Outside his shop is a model of a nine-foot trireme, which is a Greek vessel with three levels of oars that had been purchased at a local auction. This model had been in the 1925 silent movie “Ben Hur,’ which you can find on YouTube at the 43-minute mark. It is built of copper and weighs about 250 pounds with 144 oars and two masts. The oars were hooked to a motor, which moves them in a circular motion. It also has air tanks, which can be flooded allowing her to sink. On the bow and stern there are eyes where a cable can be attached to move the vessel around in the water.
Jerome said that the model is fairly accurate, but not very detailed. There is some damage to the bow and stern, and Jerome was contemplating the best way to make the repairs. The bow and stern are either aluminum or zinc, and he was leaning towards heat and a hammer, but worried about the heat melting the welds or warping the metal. Once repaired he will paint the hull but was not sure what colours.
The gear-drive motor, which moved the oars, is long gone, but it will be easy to find a replacement. The motor was electric and there is a cable that exits the hull to connect to a power source.
Making all the repairs will take much of the winter to complete. First, he needs to fit her to a cart so he can move it around in his shop as she will take up a lot of room, especially with her oars in place.
Just inside the door is a tramp steamer, which was built of plate and strip steel and round stock all welded together. Jerome added, “She has a cut away on the starboard side so you can see the engine and boiler rooms and various cargo holds fore and aft that are full of cargo. The engine room is so detailed that I suspect the gentleman that built this was an engineer. There are details in there that most people wouldn’t understand and would never put in a model unless they knew it was there.
“This model came to me,” continued Jerome, “covered in surface rust. My task was to remove all the rust, preserve the steel, and then repaint what was missing. I ended up buying 50 gallons of 30 percent vinegar, built a tank around the model and poured the vinegar on top of it. Two and a half weeks later I pulled it out and steam cleaned it. It was right back to bare steel. So, I cleaned it off and scrubbed it down with some detergent and then used an automotive restoration product to stop any rust from reforming on the steel. I’ve started to repaint it. The topsides are black, and the bottom is primer red. There is a long way to go, and it is extremely difficult to get at some of the interior spaces. If you have to paint through a porthole, the portholes are 3/8 of an inch in diameter, which is plenty for the paintbrush to fit through, but then you can’t see where the paintbrush is.”
“This model is interesting as far as construction,” added Jerome. “It is all steel, welded together from the inside out. In other words, he started with the bottom and put a floor plate in. Then he put an engine room and an engine in it, a nonworking triple expansion engine with a boiler plant. Then he ran various plumbing for the steam lines and then built the model around it. I can’t imagine how many hours it took to build this thing.”
In the centre of the shop and nearly complete is a radio-controlled model of the side paddlewheel steamer MOUNT WASHINGTON. This was made from a Dumas kit, with poor instructions. In fact, Jerome got so frustrated with the instructions that he just built it the way you would build the real thing. This is going to be a Christmas present for the customer’s wife. She is almost complete, with just some simple details to finish and she is ready for delivery.
There is a table in the corner of the shop with several models that need some degree of repairs and/or cosmetic work. There is a two-masted schooner pond model that needed her hull repaired and be rigged. Next to her was a double-ended sailboat, which was built out of hardboard. When hardboard gets wet it expands and cracks and this needs to be repaired. Then there was what the owner called a Friendship catboat, which neither of us had heard of. This needs to be rigged and a suit of sails. There was also an airplane, which would actually fly for a model railroad. The customer has Lionel trains and Jerome has been helping him a little bit by putting some of the parts and pieces together.
On a shelf there were three ocean liners, REX of Italy, QUEEN MARY of Great Britain, and NORMANDY of France, from the 1940s in need of repairs. What was interesting was that some of the details were done with paper, which is falling off. Repairing these three will take a lot of patience and time.
John’s Bay Boat Company, South Bristol, ME
The 40-foot SARI ANN, built at John’s Bay Boat in 1998, is back again for some additional work that could not be completed last year. The simple request was to enclose the head, add a small cabinet for a refrigerator and sink on the starboard side and then repair the worm shoe, which had about 15-feet missing at the aft end of the keel. All the interior work was going well, but the worm shoe repair turned into a project. They discovered that the damage had gotten into a small section of the keel. This affected area was removed, but to do this they had to remove the rudder, which did not come out easily and deal with the keel bolts in the area. The interior was nearly all built and they were getting ready to start applying paint and varnish. They plan to have her done and back over by mid-November when the big project for the winter comes in.
The next project is on a 38-footer they built 30 years ago. She had been a commercial lobster boat, but her new owners are changing her into a lobster yacht with a lengthy list of upgrades. Jeff Hanley said, “We are going to take the engine (3126 Caterpillar) out and she is going to be repower with a 7.6 Cummins. We are also moving the engine aft a foot, maybe a foot and a half, to get the engine completely behind the bulkhead. I hear we might be taking the whole house off and making it a four-window windshield instead of a three and extending the roof. They want a galley, a bench seat, a sliding door on the side of the wheelhouse and double doors on the back of the shelter.”
The owners want to use her next summer, and this may become a two-year project as they always have railway work to do in the spring. Last spring through the summer they were extremely busy getting annual maintenance done on 17 boats, one a week.
Peter Kass has started on his own 34-footer, which will be finished out as a lobster boat, with a very comfortable interior. She is all set up and they were starting the planking with the garboard and sheerstrake in place. It was thought that all the planking would be done by the middle of November.
Oceanville Boat Works, Sunrise, Stonington, ME
The Osmond 50 (a 47 stretched three feet), which is being finished out as an offshore split wheelhouse lobster boat for a fisherman out of Gloucester, is almost done and ready to go over. Because she is an offshore boat, they beefed up the construction. They went with 1½-inch Coosa for the bulkheads with two layers of 1708 and a layer of mat on both sides. The platform is similar, but one inch thick, with double fiberglass.
Down below there is a V-berth and a captain’s berth on the portside just after you go through the companionway. There is also a head in the hydraulic/electrical room, but no shower. She will be trimmed out in mahogany with varnish raised panel doors.
Underneath the platform she has two 450-gallon fuel tanks on each side of the longitudinal stringers. The three-foot section added to her stern is just a void but does have a hatch for access. She has two lobster tanks on each side that will hold eight crates each. The deck will be covered with a rubber decking from Soundown. The stern is open but does have a hydraulic tailgate.
For power she has a D-16 continuous duty 750-hp Volvo, which they figure will give the owner 16 knots cruising.
Next, she will be sprayed with Whisper Gray Awlgrip. Then she will be ready to go over for sea trials, which they hope will take place in the middle of November.
Next, they have a Wesmac 46 being finished off as a walk-around sportfisherman for a customer from New Jersey. She will be completely custom with all moulded finish parts and powered with a 1,550-hp MAN. She will be built using just vinyl ester resin with the aim of making her as light as possible.
They figure it will take 18 months to complete this project and as of, yet, they do not have anyone signed up to be next, even though there has been a lot of interest.
R. E. Blood Boatworks, Newcastle, ME
There is a lot going on here with a new building and hauling and getting them ready for the upcoming winter.
The new wooden framed steel building is 60 feet deep and 52 feet wide. Half has a radiant cement floor, which will be used as their paint shop. To the left there is just a dirt floor, which they will use for storing wooden boats, so they do not dry out. Already in to be stored is the 50-foot MICKEY FINN, which was built by Paul Rollins of York. She is in for her annual maintenance and some deck work and repaint the mast. Next to her is a Hodgdon 26, WHITE LADY, which might be the last 26 Sonny Hodgdon built. She is in to have her keel replaced.
There are several other small storage buildings with some classic wooden boats in them for the winter. SPARROW is in for some engine work and her annual maintenance. SARABAN is a Sparkman & Stephens double-ender, and she will be getting a new engine this winter.
This summer they purchased a 1990 boom truck, which will make stepping and un-stepping masts much easier. Being in a boat yard that caters to the wooden boats, it is not surprising that she has a laminated ash bumper.
Besides replacing the keel in the Hodgdon 26, they think they might be back on building the Concordia.
