Mount Desert Yacht Yard began as a yacht storage and repair business, but became a design and building yard, particularly during the late 1940s and 1950s because of Butler and associates, Ted Earl and Cy Hamlin.
Description: Mount Desert Yacht Yard began as a yacht storage and repair business, but became a design and building yard, particularly during the late 1940s and 1950s because of Butler and associates, Ted Earl and Cy Hamlin.
Rich & Grindle Boatbuilders was founded in December 1946 when Roger Clifton Rich (1913-1996) and Ralph Merrill Grindle (1915-2005) formed a partnership to build boats in Roger's barn at Tracy Cove on Clark Point Road. The barn was next to Roger's house at 50 Clark Point Road.
Description: Rich & Grindle Boatbuilders was founded in December 1946 when Roger Clifton Rich (1913-1996) and Ralph Merrill Grindle (1915-2005) formed a partnership to build boats in Roger's barn at Tracy Cove on Clark Point Road. The barn was next to Roger's house at 50 Clark Point Road.
After earning an associate's degree from a college in northern Maine, Stanley returned to Southwest Harbor. Not sure what occupation he wanted to pursue, he decided to try to build a boat. So he earned the money he needed to buy wood and other construction materials and, during the winter of 1951-1952, he built a 28-foot lobster boat. The boat turned out well and a local person bought it. This led to orders for other boats. "I've been building (boats) ever since," he said. Stanley learned how to build boats not by apprenticing himself to another boatbuilder but mainly by keenly observing and using boats and by observing the activities of several professional boatbuilders who specialized in the Mt. Desert Island version of the Maine lobster boat.
Description: After earning an associate's degree from a college in northern Maine, Stanley returned to Southwest Harbor. Not sure what occupation he wanted to pursue, he decided to try to build a boat. So he earned the money he needed to buy wood and other construction materials and, during the winter of 1951-1952, he built a 28-foot lobster boat. The boat turned out well and a local person bought it. This led to orders for other boats. "I've been building (boats) ever since," he said. Stanley learned how to build boats not by apprenticing himself to another boatbuilder but mainly by keenly observing and using boats and by observing the activities of several professional boatbuilders who specialized in the Mt. Desert Island version of the Maine lobster boat. [show more]
"A workshop stood for many years on the shore side of the road almost opposite the above-mentioned house. Many different families occupied the living apartment on the second floor. Work for the shipyard was done in the shop on the first floor. The shipyard was a busy place for many years and many small vessels and boats were constructed there." - “Traditions and Records of Southwest Harbor and Somesville, Mount Desert Island, Maine” by Mrs. Seth S. Thornton, 1938, p. 167. The schooner “Kate Newman” was built at Clark’s Point, Southwest Harbor in 1874.
Description: "A workshop stood for many years on the shore side of the road almost opposite the above-mentioned house. Many different families occupied the living apartment on the second floor. Work for the shipyard was done in the shop on the first floor. The shipyard was a busy place for many years and many small vessels and boats were constructed there." - “Traditions and Records of Southwest Harbor and Somesville, Mount Desert Island, Maine” by Mrs. Seth S. Thornton, 1938, p. 167. The schooner “Kate Newman” was built at Clark’s Point, Southwest Harbor in 1874. [show more]
Ronald Dean Rich's boat shop. Ronald was the son of Clifton Melbourne Rich and the brother of Robert "Bobby" Rich and Roger Clifton Rich, all other skilled boat builders.
Description: Ronald Dean Rich's boat shop. Ronald was the son of Clifton Melbourne Rich and the brother of Robert "Bobby" Rich and Roger Clifton Rich, all other skilled boat builders.
The Hinckley Company started in 1928 as the Manset Boatyard in Southwest Harbor, Maine. Henry R. Hinckley’s focus was on servicing the local lobster boats as well as the yachts of summer residents on Mt. Desert Island. Today Hinckley builds boats at its production facilities in Trenton, Maine, but the original Manset yard is at the heart of the Hinckley legend. Today it ranks as a world class service facility.
Description: The Hinckley Company started in 1928 as the Manset Boatyard in Southwest Harbor, Maine. Henry R. Hinckley’s focus was on servicing the local lobster boats as well as the yachts of summer residents on Mt. Desert Island. Today Hinckley builds boats at its production facilities in Trenton, Maine, but the original Manset yard is at the heart of the Hinckley legend. Today it ranks as a world class service facility.
“1941 - With World War II on the horizon, [Henry Rose Hinckley II (1907-1980)] goes to Washington D.C. to secure contracts for military boats. His first order is for twenty 38-foot Coast Guard picket boats. By the end of the war, 93 of these boats are built for the Coast Guard, using production line techniques developed for the Islander. The yard also builds 24-foot Navy personnel boats, motor mine and tow yawls (using a hull design that would briefly reappear 30 years later in fiberglass yacht club launches), shallow-draft towboats and sailing yawls as part of the war effort… By the end of the war, Hinckley will have built nearly 40% of the 1,358 boats built in Maine for the war.” - “The Hinckley Company History”
Description: “1941 - With World War II on the horizon, [Henry Rose Hinckley II (1907-1980)] goes to Washington D.C. to secure contracts for military boats. His first order is for twenty 38-foot Coast Guard picket boats. By the end of the war, 93 of these boats are built for the Coast Guard, using production line techniques developed for the Islander. The yard also builds 24-foot Navy personnel boats, motor mine and tow yawls (using a hull design that would briefly reappear 30 years later in fiberglass yacht club launches), shallow-draft towboats and sailing yawls as part of the war effort… By the end of the war, Hinckley will have built nearly 40% of the 1,358 boats built in Maine for the war.” - “The Hinckley Company History” [show more]
The boatshop of Clifton Melbourne Rich. C.M. Rich built the Dory BLB for the Kellams. His sons Robert (Bobby) and Roger also became boat builders, starting their own shops, the Bass Harbor Boat Shop and Rich and Grindle Boatbuilders, respectively.
Description: The boatshop of Clifton Melbourne Rich. C.M. Rich built the Dory BLB for the Kellams. His sons Robert (Bobby) and Roger also became boat builders, starting their own shops, the Bass Harbor Boat Shop and Rich and Grindle Boatbuilders, respectively.