Maine boat building showcased in Rockland

ROCKLAND – Rockland is really a boat town this weekend.

In addition to the full-time resident boats moored in the harbor, the city’s docks and parts of Harbor Park are packed with boats on display for the annual Maine Boats, Homes and Harbors Show, sponsored by the magazine of the same name, which got under way Friday.

The event provides a showcase for Maine’s boating industry, including boat builders and the many businesses that support the industry, and backing up the sea of well over 100 boats in the water and on the land were tents full of exhibitors related to the marine trade.

The show, now in its fourth year, is “very appealing,” said Kerri Russell, the operations manager at John Williams Boat Co. in Mount Desert.

“It’s nice to be able to show a boat in the water in Maine,” Russell said. “We rarely sign a contract at any boat show, but this is a good opportunity to show our boats.”

Because this is one of the few shows where the boats are exhibited in the water – about 80 of them are tied up to the docks along with another 50 or so on shore – Russell said they often arrange to meet potential clients at the show.

The boats exhibited at the show run the full gamut of Maine’s boating industry from a 7-foot mahogany sailboat to the Acadia, an 84-foot Lyman-Morse motor cruiser which the Thomaston-based company launched several years ago.

There are sailing boats, rowing and paddling boats, and motor boats; boats built of wood, fiberglass and other composite materials; boats built of steel.

The show spans the decades, as well. Across the water from the Acadia sits the 64-foot motor yacht Ragtime, originally built in 1928, which served as a private commuter boat ferrying her owners from Long Island to Manhattan until it was drafted for service in World War II.

Ragtime was extensively rebuilt by a crew at the Boothbay Region Boatyard in Southport and spends much of its time at boat shows or on fundraising charters.

“We come here to promote what we can do and to pick up more work,” said Marshall St. Cyr, the foreman at Boothbay’s wood shop. “In particular, old wooden boats are what we like to attract.”

Also on display are boats from a number of yacht dealers from Maine and beyond. Some are well-established and others new to the business, such as Flanders Bay Boats, which started business a week ago selling a Dutch design motor launch imported from China. The business is so new that owners Tom and Sharon St. Claire joked that, although they had signed up for the show months ago, they were worried they might not have a boat to display.

“We weren’t sure our boat was going to get here in time,” Sharon said.

Although some areas of the industry have seen slower growth than others, Cabot Lyman, one of the partners at Lyman-Morse, said the industry is doing well. That, he said, is a reflection of the quality of the work being done by Maine boat builders. Although a lot of excellent production work is being done – as evidenced by the many boats docked around the harbor – Lyman said custom-built boats will provide a draw to boat buyers.

“There are quite a few custom-built boats here, and there are not a lot of places where people can do that and do it well,” he said. “We have the skills here that are needed for custom-built boats, I think.”

The show continues through the weekend and on Sunday will feature the popular Boat Yard Dog Trials. It runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $10; a two-day pass is $15 per person. Children under 12 are admitted free. No pets are allowed on the show grounds.