At Holland Boat they have replaced the keel on this Holland 22, designed by Calvin Beal, Jr. Behind her is a Holland 32, which is nearing completion and should go out this spring.
This is the Webber’s Cove 34 cruiser having repairs and upgrades made at Robinhood Marine in Rockland.
Henry R. Abel Yacht Yard, Somes Sound, Mount Desert
When December began, for many, it was a count-down to Christmas, but for the boat yards on the coast it was the count-down to their last haul-out for the season. This also meant getting all these storage boats ready for the cold of winter, which in some cases can take a lot of time. For yards like Henry R. Abel, they may have to wait a bit because they store a number of commercial fishermen, who, if the fishing is still decent, want to stay in as long as they can and this could mean a very late haul out.
Mid-December they had all the pleasure boats up with just a few commercial boats still out. While the weather was still decent, they were getting many of the regular customers ready for next season. This meant getting their annual maintenance done, which included bottom paint and waxing.
There were several bigger projects just waiting for the owners to give the final approval. There were a couple of repowers looking to be done. One was on a pinkie schooner, which would have her old Westerbeke Diesel removed and replaced with a 60-hp Diesel engine. The other repower is for a commercial fisherman, who is looking to replace his Scania.
Last year they had a couple of major projects underway, which have since been completed. One was on an Intrepid 34, which they rebuilt the soft top T-top centre console on. The new teak centre console was designed by Stephens & Waring of Belfast and the drawings then went to Hewes & Company of Blue Hill to have an egg-crate mould cut on their CNC machine. They then laminated the teak pieces to this.
The other project was on a 28-foot Canadian powerboat, LeBlanc. This was a complete refit having stripped her down to a bare hull. They then put on new washboards, a platform and pilothouse. They also added an outboard extension for a 250-hp Yamaha.
There are some other estimates out. One is on an original Hinckley 36-foot jet boat, which did not have the jet-stick system or bow thruster. The owner is now thinking he would like to modify her and add this.
Holland Boat, Belfast
There are three Holland 14s underway in the shop. Right at the door is a centre console model nearly finished, which will be heading to her owner in New Hampshire at year’s end. She is powered with a 40-hp Suzuki with a number of extras including custom colours on the inside, non-skid on the seat tops, bow storage, bilge pump, navigation lights, phone charger and a four-position electrical panel. Gavin Holland, who is running the shop, said that he just needs to finish the electronics, install the spray rails, paint the bottom and install the outboard and she is ready to go.
The next 14 will be powered with a tiller-steered 30-hp Suzuki outboard, which is going to Southern Maine. She will have two bench seats, bow storage, spray rails, boot top, bottom paint and a hauling table in the stern. She will be more of a workboat.
The next 14 is black and will be powered with a 60-hp Suzuki outboard. This one is going to be a simple boat with gray interior, two bench seats, bow seat with storage and a boot stripe. She will be delivered late this winter.
The Holland 21 is progressing. They have been fairing the plug to a perfect finish, which is about a week away from completion. Then a flange will be attached before a mould can be taken off. It is hoped to have this completed sometimes this spring, but that will depend on orders that come in.
Next to the plug for the 21 is a swim platform for a Holland 38, which is being finished out at A. & B. Classic Boatworks in Rockport. She was built with two layers of ¾-inch Coosa with a beveled edge that will be blended into the quarter guards. She has stainless steel 3/8-inch brackets, which were made by Nautilus Marine in Trenton. She will be delivered right after the first of the year.
Also in the shop is a Holland 22, which was designed by Calvin Beal, Jr. She has received a keel replacement. Gavin said, “It was old, rotten oak just dried right out and shrunk and barely held on. Electrolysis got to the bolts, and she wasn’t hanging on by much. You could grab the skeg and shake her around, so it was time. She had a 350 Chevy in her and we pulled that out so we could get to the keel bolts. We cut out the drip pan under the engine and dropped the bolts out of the old keel. It basically fell off. We then made a new one out of five layers of ¾-inch Coosa with 2408 in between. Put her together with some bronze bolts and then laminated it in place, blended it in and get her going again for this guy.”
Once all the fiberglass work is done, then it is re-installing the engine, clean up some wiring and she is ready to go back to New Jersey.
Behind her is a Holland 32, which is almost complete. She is powered with a 550-hp Cummins. As for accommodations, she has a V-berth, full head, set of seats and an inside engine box. She had left Holland to be finished up at another shop, but the owner brought her back to Holland’s to get her finished. Some of the work that has been done needs to be redone before they can go forward. However, there is not much work left and she should only take about a month or two to complete.
Orders are still coming in for the 14s and a person from New Hampshire is seriously looking at ordering a basic 32.
Journey’s End Marina, Rockland, ME
Just before Christmas the yard was focusing on getting their regular service work wrapped up and some estimates out. They were still getting calls for storage even in December, but they sold out in October.
One project that has been underway for awhile has been on a Webber’s Cove 28. She started as basically a bare hull. They have installed a forward side console with a T-top and is powered with an outboard. Her owner is going to use her for tuna fishing.
They have a Sabre 58 getting ready to leave and another one will be coming down from Sabre’s shop at Back Cove in the Industrial Park this spring. They get these boats, usually two a year, ready for delivery to their owners.
They have about six repowers lined up for the winter, which is a little slower than it has been over the last few years.
The paint booth is slow, but that may pick up once we get through the holidays. Right now, in the booth is a Nimbus and that will be followed by a Sabre. One interesting project was painting a set of speakers Ferrari black for Rockport Technology and last summer they painted an airplane.
The big commercial project underway currently is on a 50-foot porgie boat out of Gloucester, Massachusetts. They have put in a new shaft log; removed the shaft and sent it out to be checked; checked all the drivetrain boxes; repaired a lot of fiberglass and did some fabrication. This project will be done after the first of the New Year.
Out in the yard is a Holland 41, which hit bottom last summer. She will need some fiberglass repairs to the keel.
Another boat they just hauled, an older Duffy, was towed in with no rudder and skeg. She certainly will be a big project this winter.
They have a new 10-ton trailer coming soon. Most of the boats that they are hauling for storage and taking off site are under 10-tons, so this made perfect sense.
The marina still has several commercial boats in it and will have for the rest of the winter. This is well protected and many of them are still working when the weather permits.
Luke and Carter Boats, Brooklin, ME
Luke Carter, who has been working with Eric Dow for a lot of years, has gone out on his own, but not very far, as he rents Eric’s big shop.
In the shop for major repair work is a L. Francis Herreshoff Araminta, the first one built (1954), which was designed as a daysailer for the coast of Maine. She is similar but is an enlarged version of QUIET TUNE. One difference is her clipper bow and more sail area. Luke added, “We are doing pretty much what we expected. I was going to put a stern post and horn timber in it. We did find some rot, but I expected that. So, we have taken that out. I have got the horn timber out now and have put in a few new floor timbers and some sisters. Just trying to make the boat solid again.”
Luke was going to use locust but changed his mind and now has a piece of oak coming. He thought that the locust was too squirrely and the pieces he needs are long and thin and figured a long piece of straight-grained oak would work much better.
She is now going back together, and it should be done mid-winter.
MADDIE SUE, a Chester Clement built power boat from the 1930s, will likely come back in next to have an interior put in. Luke said, “She is going to be pretty simple, just a V-berth. I am not sure if we are going to put a head in or not yet. It has got a porta potty at the moment, but I have a feeling that it may change.
After this there may be another electric drive boat, and the person Luke built an airplane for a couple of years ago is looking to buy a Concordia yawl. He is coming to discuss the logistics of this in February.
Luke Carter has been working with Eric Dow since junior high school, which is just shy of 40 years. His stepfather, Joe Gott, had been working there for a number of years and then Luke began coming in with him. Luke explained, “I wasn’t even old enough to work here the first year. I mainly just mowed lawns and did a little bit of stuff. The next year I got a work permit, but I wasn’t allowed to use the machines in the shop. My mother tells the story, she came one day, I was in 7th grade or 8th grade, just started here, and I was outside on the table saw. She comes in and goes, “Guys, his permit is not for that. You know he’s not supposed to use the tools in the shop.” They both turned and looked at her and go, “Well, he is not in the shop, he is outside.”
On good days they wanted the table saw outside. Luke said that he would cut 20 or 30 sheets of mahogany plywood and if done in the shop he would fill the air with the dust.
Early on he built a lot of the cold moulded Haven 12½s, because no one else wanted to do it. Luke added, “They sent me to Brion Rieff’s shop to learn how to cold mould and work with him. I have got a weird respect for that man. He is very talented. I have seen him do things and swear if I tried it, it would not happen, but he just pulls it off somehow. That’s how I got a lot of confidence too.”
Looking back, he fondly remembered building an awning for L. L. Bean, working on some very notable boats and then a couple of years ago he built an airplane. This took him about five years to complete and the tolerances he had to be within were extremely small. Despite the time, he enjoyed building it and would even entertain doing another one.
Eric is trying to slow down some and do the smaller projects. Presently, he is working on a very old small commercial runabout from Lubec.
Robinhood Marine, Robinhood, ME
Like every yard on the coast they were getting everything hauled out and put away for the winter just before the holidays and beginning to work on their winter’s work.
In one of the main bays, they have a Webber’s Cove 34 in for repairs and modifications for her new owner. Her new owner was looking to get out of sailing and wanted a nice cruising powerboat. He located this Webber’s Cove in Massachusetts, which is believed to have been a do-it-yourself-project for the former owner. They are going through the mechanical and electrical systems, re-plumb the water system, do some cosmetic work and install new electronics. One of the first things they needed to address was noted by the surveyor, which is the propeller is oversized with less than an inch between its tips and the hull. She is power with a Yanmar Diesel to a Borg-Warner gear and the gear failed its oil analysis test. That meant hauling out the gear and sending it out to be rebuilt.
Previously in the shop, there was a Pacific Seacraft Crealock 34. She is a one owner boat and received a new motor (Yanmar 3YM) after 40 years. Her sistership had the same work done previously and she was in just for her annual maintenance and cosmetics. Those boats have already come and gone out of the shop.
Other boats in for regular annual maintenance include an Alerion 23, a Back Cove 37, a Beneteau and a Nonsuch 36. A Hinckley 41 has just been moved into a paint bay, and she will get some minor engine repairs, new electronics and varnish and paint. Just coming out of the paint bay was a 9-foot Boston Whaler, and she will be followed by a 13-foot Whaler. Also heading to the paint booth is a 1985 Tartan 41, which last year underwent a major refit. This included rebuilding an old Westerbeke Diesel, installing a Lithium battery system, replumb the domestic and waste systems, and install a Sea Frost refrigeration system. This year she will receive a cosmetic upgrade and new electronics to complete her refit.
Out in the yard they are replacing F Dock. They have already built five of the main run floats and are now building the rest. Once those are finished, they will start replacing the finger floats.
Shop to Shore, South Bristol. ME
In the shop they have an old lobster boat, which they unfortunately knew little about. The owner does not lobster anymore but uses it to get back out on the water for enjoyment. The owner was looking to have the hull painted, which meant they stripped the old paint off and changed her colour from blue to burgundy. There was a question about the bottom and owner decided to make some necessary repairs. This included adding some sister frames, to replace the ones that were either broken or rotten and then refasten where needed.
The shop acquired a wooden peapod, which needed a lot of work. Then someone came in looking for a rowing skiff and after looking at the peapod tried it out. He figured it would work, but he wanted to alter her to a sliding rowing seat. This will mean lowering the sheer some, fixing the rotten places and then some paint.
Outside they were working on a wooden Chris Craft, which needed a new engine box, paint the hull and redo the varnish.
An Able 32 is looking to have a stern door put in the transom. The owner wants it so that you cannot see it. This means creating one that the top lifts up and then have the door swing in.
All the rest of the boats are storage customers, and they are in for annual maintenance and cosmetic work.
Renee, owner of the shop, has a beautiful 1950s wooden cabin cruiser. He was able to paint the hull and do some varnish. When asked if she went in, he laughed and told me not to be silly. He did get his 28-footer in and said he got three rides in that during the summer. Besides keeping his storage boats going all summer he is in the process of building a house down the road.
