John’s Bay Boat Company and the Next Chapter
Let’s dispense with the bad news first. Peter Kass, the last full-time designer and builder of traditional plank-on-frame lobster boats, who a lot of people say is the greatest wooden lobster boat builder of all time, is retiring. After more than four decades constructing and designing beautiful lobster hulls, all too often 
working seven days a week, the 65-year-old Kass is calling it a career. Since opening John’s Bay Boat Company in 1983, Kass—working alongside his small but highly skilled crews—has built 79 traditional wooden boats, the great majority of them eye-catching lobster boats. “It’s sad because it’s the end of an era,” says Rich Armstrong, a serial buyer of Kass boats. Armstrong bought a used 40-foot Peter Kass and was so taken with it he commissioned Kass to build him two more—a 42-footer and a 44-footer. All three boats are still in the Armstrong family. “They’re beautiful and they last forever,” he says. “[The retirement] is unfortunate, but the guy has worked 60-plus hours a week for the last 40 years, so I understand.” Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:38
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