Kayaker, 70, left retirement for L.L. Bean

ELLSWORTH – Robert “Bob” Wessel had been doing enough kayaking.

That’s why he took an opportunity to come out of retirement and help sell kayaks at the L.L. Bean Factory Store on High Street.

Wessel, 70, has been working at the store for about six years. He works there full time between May and December and then works at the store only part time during the slower winter months, he said.

Wessel, a Beddington resident who owns three kayaks, had been retired from his career as an Ellsworth florist for about five or six years when he was offered a job at L.L. Bean’s Ellsworth store.

The manager called him and told him he needed an employee right away, he said.

“I was here quite a bit,” Wessel said during a break from hanging clothes on a nearby rack. “I got to know the whole crew.”

Wessel said he had been working part time at other Ellsworth businesses but was happy to start working full time again.

“I had too much time on my hands, really,” Wessel said. “You can do too much kayaking, and you can run out of money, too.”

Wessel said he still kayaks frequently – Mopang Lake in Devereaux Township and Bog Brook Flowage in Beddington are his favorite places to paddle – but he does not kayak on the ocean anymore.

Customers who want to buy kayaks are directed to Wessel because of his knowledge of the small vessels, he said.

“Usually, they holler for me,” he said of his co-workers.

A woman who works with Wessel indicated how his fellow employees feel about him.

“All of his co-workers love him,” she said as she walked by behind the store’s front counter.

Wessel said another aspect about his job that he likes is the customer relations.

“You get to know a lot of people,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun.”