All Shapes and Sizes

Just as lobsters come in many different sizes and colors, the people who catch them also come in a wide variety. Read more

On Board at Last

It finally happened!  With the help of Steve Robbins III at the Stonington Co-op, I finally got my first ride on a working lobster boat. Read more

Just Hanging Out

One of the many off season chores of the Lobsterman is repainting buoys. Read more

It’s Summer

You know it’s June when the Lupine bloom all along the Maine Coast. By the time these flowers fade the “shedders” should be coming inshore and things will really pick up for the lobstermen of the Gulf.

Those Beautiful Little Boats

The lobster boat is a great example of form following function. They are crafted for a specific job, and that job dictates the size, the shape, and hardware on the boat. But what is harder to describe is why some of the boats, especially the wooden ones, have such beautiful lines and shapes. Last time we were in Maine David found someone, another colorful Maine character, to help us understand the whys and hows of the Lobster boat.

Meet Doug; he is one of a dying breed. A builder of wooden lobster boats.  He selects and cuts the timber, designs the hull, fashions the ribs, shapes the transom, builds the engines, installs the electrical system, the whole ball of wax.  Doug turns out to be another one of those generous souls who invited us into his workshop, took us to his house to see his boat (lovingly named “Brenda” by the way) and his studio – actually a basement “man cave” as the spray paint on the door clearly warns.

Doug was nice enough to talk us through his process of building a wooden lobster boat. Perhaps talking to us offered a respite from the tedious winter job of sanding the hull of the boat up in the yard.  Hard to fathom why else he would take hours out of his day to talk to a couple of strangers the wind blew in!

In the photos below you can see his scale 1:1 model that he carves, then drafts. He will begin building another boat this Spring and we will be back haunting his shop and bringing you photos of the process and stories of Doug. Another Maine character in the Lobstering Life!