Tag Archives: boatbuilder
Leslie “Buddy” Rose, 81, of Harkers Island has passed away
Leslie Roger “Buddy” Rose was born July 15, 1939, to Leslie and Christine Rose on Harkers Island, being the first son after seven daughters. Six more children followed Leslie. His father, Leslie, was a commercial fisherman with Stacy Davis for at least 20 years. Times were hard for a family that size on a fisherman’s pay. As a teenager, he commercial fished with Ivey Gaskill,,, He and his wife Ann decided to take a chance on starting his own boatbuilding business. It was tough starting with nothing, especially that first year or so, but eventually things improved. Leslie built 62 boats over a 17-year period, sending boats as far north as Massachusetts and as far south as Florida. >click to read< 19:04
Chesapeake Bay Says Goodbye to a Classic Virginia Deadrise Boatbuilder
Edward Diggs, an iconic builder of deadrise workboats, left the Chesapeake Bay for good on Thanksgiving after a long, well-lived life. He was 93 and had lived for many years in the home he built with his family on Mobjack Bay in Redart. Diggs began building boats with his father and later built with Alton Smith,,, Diggs boats were large (44-50’), high-sided, and built stout. Mr. Edward’s last large boat is a good example: Dutch Girl is 50’ x 15’, built in 1992 at Horn Harbor for Capt. Dave Thompson. Thompson took her to New York,,, >click to read< 18:20
Boatbuilder Ralph Howard Sorensen Jr.
Ralph was born in Edmonds, WA, and maintained his home there, graduating from Edmonds High School in 1946. He attended Everett Community College before being called to serve his country in the Korean War,,, He went on to became an apprentice boat builder at Howard Anderson Boat House, which later became Anderson Marine next to the Edmonds ferry terminal. Ralph specialized in building commercial fishing boats. He started his own boat shop called Tidewater Boat Works, where he built gillnetters, trollers, seiners, and did repairs on sailboats or anything that floated and was made out of wood. >click to read< 09:07
Steuben boatbuilder calls it a day
Mike Light stood in the doorway of his boatshop and watched as a truck hauled the spanking new lobster boat Thai Lady off toward the Milbridge town dock one day before its scheduled launching. On the boat’s starboard quarter, tucked up beneath the rail just forward of the transom and above the federal fisheries permit number, gold lettering outlined in black proclaimed the boat to be “Light’s Last.” But is it? “I’m tired,” Light said as the boat he said is his 79th disappeared down the road on the first day of July. “I’m just tired. I’ve been doing this 34 years, 27 on my own.” If the big Calvin Beal, Jr.-designed 44-footer really is the last boat Mike Light finishes it will end a remarkable career with a perfect Downeast Maine story. >click to read< 12:11
Engine shortage slows pace of boatbuilding
Seated behind the desk in his office, boatbuilder Stewart Workman seemed pretty relaxed for a businessman with a big problem that seems to be growing worse.,, Over the past couple of years, as more of the lobster fishery has moved into deeper waters far from land, Workman’s customers have been looking at the biggest boats he can build, but he is finding it difficult to satisfy their needs. The reason is simple. “There are no engines available that are big enough to safely operate our (biggest) boats offshore,” Workman said recently. Fishermen are the customers who are feeling the pinch. The new emission rule exempts non-commercial vessels. >click to read<19:48
The History of the Downeasters at Wesmac Custom Boats
Downeasters, aka lobsterboats, are renowned for their seakeeping ability and classic, thrifty, Yankee good looks. Bred in Maine a century ago, they serve as cruisers, sport-fishers and workboats of all types around the world. Like any good idea, though, lobsterboats haven’t remained static. They have evolved into subsets of successful local hull forms as developments in propulsion and the needs of boaters have changed. Right now, we are on the cusp of a new evolution of Downeasters. Just what is the history of the Downeaster? What characteristics have made it so enduring? And how has it changed? To find out, we headed to Wesmac Custom Boats, a premier Downeast boatbuilder in Surry, Maine, that is creating a new “hybrid” design that takes what might be the most venerable and recognized boat type in the world to the next level. Read the rest of the story here 13:28
