The Maine Lobster Boat

Daniel Sheldon Lee is a historian and author who lives in Hingham, Massachusetts. He is also the author of Buzzards Bay: A Journey of Discovery and Hockomock: Place Where the Spirits Dwell.

Part I: “The Boats”



“The Fastest Lobster Boat Race in the World”: What could be more exciting than watching 40-foot lobster boats racing at speeds of over 50 mph up narrow Moosabec Reach? This chapter is based on a colorful account of a trip to the storied, annual lobster boat race on July 4th in Jonesport-Beals, Maine. At stake is not merely the personal pride of the competing lobster boat owners, but also the extensive publicity and lucrative business that can accrue to boat builders in the event of a victory. This chapter includes interviews with competing lobstermen bent on bragging rights for their beloved boats, as well as a generous dose of hard-to-believe and uncouth stories from races in years past, including related festivities, the intentional splashing of judges, firearms violations, high-speed bridge collisions and boat rollovers.
“In the Beginning: Dories and Peapods”: While today’s high-powered lobster boats have actually reached speeds of 90 miles per hour, the first boat used to snatch the delicious American Lobster (Homarus americanus) from the shallows was the slow, humble, oar-powered Dory. Simply crafted in wood, stable, practical, and long-lived, the Dory served its purpose in the early years of the industry in the 17th and 18th Centuries as an inexpensive, easily-built boat for the casual harvesting of lobsters inshore, but it was rapidly eclipsed by bigger, more seaworthy boats. Its design never made the later transition to engine power, and thus the boat reached an evolutionary dead end in the lobster industry early on. The Dory was followed by its cousin, the wooden, double-ended “Peapod,” the design of which is strikingly reminiscent of a big Native American canoe. Peapods are said to have originated in Penobscot Bay around 1870. The Peapod was extremely seaworthy due to its high “twin bows,” allowing it to be rowed further offshore than the Dory, and it was able to be rowed standing up, backwards as well as forwards, traits that lobstermen constantly maneuvering around ledges to pull traps found invaluable. The Peapod, despite its widespread use was another traditional lobstering craft that was unable to make the transition to power, but it lives on in the industry in a limited capacity as a tender. This chapter tells the stories of the Dory and the Peapod, their maritime history and use in the lobster industry, and includes several salty tales salvaged from the distant past involving their use by lobstermen.
“Under Sail: The Muscongus and Friendship Sloops”: As lobster catches steadily increased in value in the late 1800s, many lobstermen turned to the wind to help them manage their growing workload. The first widely-adopted sailing craft in the industry was the speedy Muscongus Sloop, so-called for its origin around Muscongus Bay, Maine. The small, open Muscongus Sloop employed a centerboard and was used by lobstermen largely in inshore waters. This boat later evolved into and became widely known as the “Friendship” Sloop because of the many notable boats of this design built by the Morse’s boat shop in the town of Friendship, Maine. In general, the clipper-bowed Friendship is larger and more seaworthy than its predecessor the Muscongus, employing a keel, and it was sailed by lobstermen further offshore. The Friendship Sloop was quickly abandoned by lobstermen in the early 1900s, however, when its design proved incompatible with engine power. Today, the strikingly-beautiful Friendship Sloop endures as a classic icon raced by yachtsmen and enjoys a passionate following. This chapter tells the interesting story of these sloops, their history, design, and use, as well as local maritime tales that highlight their “racy” past.
“Hampton and Reach Boats: The Transition to Power”: Lobster boats under sail reached their evolutionary height at the end of the 19th Century with the Muscongus and Friendship Sloops together with two other notable crafts, Hampton and Reach boats. Notably, the designs of the Hampton and Reach boats allowed them to later transition to engine power, while the Muscongus and Friendship Sloops were unable to make this vital change, and thus reached an evolutionary dead end in the industry. The sturdy, handsome Hampton boat originated in Hampton, New Hampshire, and was widely employed by lobstermen on the western coast of Maine. The narrower Reach Boat, sort of a cross between a Peapod and a Hampton boat, was widely used Down East around Muscongus Bay, and its lines became the predecessor to the classic long, thin, and fast powered lobster boats that characterize Eastern Maine. The square transom of the Hampton boat, in particular, combined with its overall design, proved to be the perfect platform for engine-power in the early 20th Century, and thus the Hampton served as the natural, de-facto link between sailing and powerboats in the lobster industry. This chapter tells the fascinating story of the Reach boat and the legendary Hampton boat, the design of which has heavily influenced innumerable commercial and recreational boat designs up to the present day.
“Under Power: The Modern Lobster Boat”: The transition of lobstermen to engine-powered boats in the early years of the 20th Century, starting with the Hampton Boat, has culminated in the huge, high-powered craft of today seen flaunting their speed in the lobster boat races that take place annually all along the Maine Coast. There have been several major design factors along the way that led to these large, high-powered boats, including most notably the ever-increasing pressure on lobstermen to haul more traps and travel greater distances to obtain more lobsters as the industry grew steadily more competitive. The advent of the lighter and more powerful 4-cyclinder automobile engines that became available to boat builders after World War I also created dramatic change in lobster boat designs. This chapter describes the fascinating evolution of these design changes, and also begins to introduce the many and various salty Maine characters that introduced them, as lobster boat building became more specialized and migrated from fishermen’s backyards to local boat shops.

Part II: “The Builders”



“The Beals and Beals Island”: The Beals are one of the legendary Maine lobster boat-building families. There were so many lobster boat builders on Beals Island, located “way Down East” on Muscongus Reach, that as the old saying goes “you could kick over a stump and find a boat builder there.” And that builder would very likely have been a Beal. There was Riley Beal, Alvin Beal, Isaac Beal, Calvin Beal, Adrian Beal, Willis Beal, Osmond Beal…the list goes on and on, and then, eventually, it actually starts to repeat itself as another generation manned the boat shops. The Beal’s themselves will tell you that “We don’t have a family tree; we have a family wreath (it just keeps going round-and-round).” But despite the family similarities, many of the Beal’s were outstanding boat builders in their own right, and many of them brought something unique to the ever-evolving design of the Maine lobster boat. There were no formal schools for their trade – the many boat shops were where each successive generation learned the craft, which was generally passed down from father to son, or father to son-in-law. Wooden lobster boat building flourished on Beals Island until about 1980, with the last wooden boat built on the island in 1991 by Willis Beal. This chapter tells the fascinating story of the Beal family, and includes some of the famous (and some infamous) lobster boat tales that permeate Beals Island.
“The Wizard of Beals Island: Will Frost”: Mainers’ may not want to hear it, but probably the most influential designers in the evolution of the Maine lobster boat weren’t originally from Maine at all. They were imports from even further Down East – straight across the Bay of Fundy, around Digby, Nova Scotia. Will Frost seemingly appeared out of nowhere on Beals Island in 1912, possibly riding an especially turbid blast of freezing easterly wind. He then proceeded to build the most bewitchingly-beautiful, and fastest, motorboats anyone there had ever seen, including the famous “Red Wing.” Twenty-six feet long and just five-and-a-half feet wide, this long, thin motorboat introduced the “torpedo stern” to Maine, a striking design affect possibly derived from navy destroyers where the stern angles gently out and away from the boat, as opposed to the typical stern angle that cuts back under the boat to the waterline. The “Red Wing” was by far the fastest boat Down East. Over 100 boats were reportedly built along its lines, and because of its speed and irresistible good looks, it greatly influenced the design of the modern lobster boat. Will Frost brought in another Nova Scotian, Harold Gower, to build boats with him on Beals Island. Incredibly, Gower turned out to be as good, or even better at designing boats than Will Frost. Some of his boats were so highly esteemed that they have been fully restored and are in use today. This chapter tells the interesting and unlikely story of these two Canadian boat builders, who came to Maine and most unexpectedly supplied the genius behind the design of one of the state’s most treasured cultural icons.
“The Lowells Take the Torch”: The Lowells, like the Beals, are a hugely-influential family of lobster boat builders who have left an indelible mark on the craft. Riley Lowell was the lucky man that married Will Frost’s oldest daughter, and afterwards worked side-by-side with the master, learning his trade secrets and continuing his design traditions. Royal, Riley’s son and Frost’s grandson, later designed several well-known lobster boats built by Eastern, Newman, Holland and other builders. Carroll Lowell, also Frost’s grandson, was another force in the industry, building Blue Hill boats and contributing well-known designs to Johns Bay Boats. Today, Carroll’s sons, Jamie and Joseph, carry on the Lowell tradition in the same family boat shop in Yarmouth. This chapter relates the significant boat-building accomplishments of the Lowells, including how they have been instrumental in continuing Will Frost’s lasting influence on the industry.
“Modern Lobster Boat Builders”: Lobster boat builders in the late-20th- and 21st Century have continued to build on and enhance the tried-and-true traditions of the past. Although they adopted new technologies such as fiberglass, albeit often reluctantly, many modern builders still built lobster boats using only lines derived from half-hull boat models, just as had their predecessors. Early on, many boat shops remained somewhat primitive: some were completely outside, and several notable shops were said to have “holes in the walls big enough to throw a dog through.” Some of these builders, of which there are many, included most notably the Young Brothers, who would always give you a quote but wouldn’t always build your boat, Ernest Libby Jr., who led the (often-despised) transition from wood boats to fiberglass, Richard Duffy, whose name is now synonymous with modern lobster and fishing boats due to his popular designs, and Terry Jason, who was building traditional lobster boats in Maine until just a few years ago when he passed away. Today the Lowell Brothers still build lobster boats in the Frost tradition in Maine, SW Boatworks is building lobster boats based on Calvin Beal’s and the Young Brothers’ original designs, and Hollands Boat Shop in Belfast and Johns Bay Boat Company in South Bristol, along with several other notable shops, also carry on the time-honored traditions of the past.
“Afterword: The Future of the Craft”: As discussed in previous chapters, the lobster boat building industry is heavily dependent on the state of the lobster fishery, which is today still one of the most lucrative marine business in New England. However, major current challenges to the fishery include declining lobster catch rates and a recent ruling at the federal level driven by environmentalists that will seek to protect Right Whales from the alleged harm they incur from lobstering gear. And most recently, Maine boat builders have been impacted significantly by coronavirus regulations and its negative effect on the economy. Only time will tell if the beloved maritime icon we know as the Maine lobster boat will survive to grace our coastlines in years to come.