Nowadays Herb and Doris Smith live a relatively “quiet” life since they have retired to their self built log home. Among other pastimes, Doris now kayaks and Herb pens books and sails on the Appledore Child, but their lives over the past several decades have been anything but quiet.

Herb and Doris first came to Boothbay Harbor in 1974 when they sailed the Appledore I, a 49 foot schooner that Herb had just built. They planned to sail from Portsmouth, NH to Rockland, ME, but were hit by a big squall by Sequin Island and were nearly knocked down so they decided to pull into to the nearest port which was Boothbay Harbor. They fell in love with Boothbay Harbor and soon started a day chartering business out of the Spruce Point Inn. Herb had previously worked as a cinematographer on an icebreaker that sailed to Antarctica and Greenland so he did not hesitate to sail to the Caribbean that winter and many winters after that where Doris and Herb again ran day charters.

In 1978 they launched their second vessel called the Appledore II which was a 65 foot schooner which they helped build with the Gamage Shipyard in South Bristol, ME. The Appledore II sailed around the world via the Panama Canal. The trip lasted a year and a half and visited 50 ports of call ending up at Portsmouth NH in May of 1980.

After that voyage, the Smiths moved to Littleton, NH where they tried to live a “normal” life but found it wasn’t for them. They soon were building their third schooner, Appledore III. She was launched in Newburyport, MA and made her way to Boothbay Harbor where they were given permission to dock in front of the Fisherman’s Wharf Inn and charter out of the hotel. That summer Herb also began planning another trip around the world in the Appledore III. This time they followed a different path through the straits of Magellan which allowed them to visit more out of the way islands. This voyage was completed in Boothbay Harbor in May of 1986.

Next Herb had a 65 foot steel replica of the Appledore II built in Florida for the purpose of traveling around the five great capes of the world with his whole family which now included three children. The new Appledore IV first ran charters along with the Appledore III out of Fisherman’s Wharf in the summer of 1988 and in the fall of 1988 it set sail on the longer voyage. Upon reaching Bermuda, Herb decided it was more prudent to spend the winter in the Caribbean. After chartering her again over the summer of 1989 in Boothbay Harbor, they decided to sell the Appledore IV.

The Appledore IV was built as a 56 foot replica of the Appledore III. The plan was again to sail around the five capes. At the last minute Herb decided he just couldn’t do it knowing that his son was looking forward to his first year of high school and the chance to play football. The rest of the family was in agreement. After being chartered for a couple of summers, the Appledore V was sold, but Herb was able to continue to manage it until the new owner decided to put it up for sale.

At this point boatless, Herb and Doris starting building a wooden boat which was launched in 1999 as the Eastwind. That winter Herb and Doris, accompanied by their daughters, sailed to the Caribbean. This was the last “big sail”. The Eastwind was sold to their son Tom who ran her out of Boothbay Harbor for 14 years until being sold this past year, Asked whether they ever dream of sailing again Herb responded, “ Yes, I’m leaving this summer on the Appledore Child. I’ll be sailing around the islands of Boothbay Harbor”. Doris says that she may accompany him though it may be just paddling alongside him in her kayak.

Kathleen Jones is now well known as a local designer and co-owner of Kerr/Jones Gallery in East Boothbay, but for a span of three decades she and her late husband George traveled extensively in the seas of the Eastern and Western Caribbean and along the coast of Maine.

A native of Ohio, Kathleen graduated from Ohio State. After college while pursuing her master’s degree in San Francisco she met her future husband George, and they were married in 1981. In the early years, George’s work as a physician in the military brought them to Germany and Saudi Arabia and then back to Memphis, which was George’s hometown. It was at that time that they both learned to sail on a large lake in Arkansas. Dreams of a larger boat and longer voyages began to take shape, including bareboat charters in Antigua and the British Virgin Islands.

In 1987 they purchased a Peterson 44 named Ursa Major in Annapolis, MD. They first sailed to the Leeward and Windward islands of the Eastern Caribbean and then onto Venezuela with two very young children aboard. George would fly back to the US periodically to work and replenish their “cruising kitty” while Kathleen stayed aboard and homeschooled their older child. They returned to the US after cruising for two years, leading to their next adventure in Maine.

They first came to Maine to visit some old friends who had a cottage on Southport Island. As their children were growing older, the couple felt they needed to investigate land-based options for schooling and socialization. They fell in love with Maine and knew that living here would lend itself to more sailing adventures. George was hired as an internist at St. Andrews Hospital and subsequently opened a private practice in Boothbay Harbor. Kathleen became involved in the community including becoming a member of the Windjammer Committee. As George’s practice grew, they found they didn’t have the time to sail. This eventually led to the decision to sell Ursa Major. They replaced her with their first power boat, White Falcon which was originally designed and owned by Bill Danforth and was built at Brewer’s Boatyard (now Hodgdon Yacht Services) around 1961. The family enjoyed cruising up and down the Maine coast which required less time away from home. Upon a suggestion from the legendary broadcaster Walter Cronkite, White Falcon was eventually donated to a non-profit school in Florida where students considered high risk were taught useful marine skills.

In 2001, George and Kathleen decided to sail again as George now had more time in semi-retirement. They purchased a Sparkman and Stevens Custom 47 and renamed her Déjà Vu which was appropriate since they felt they had been there before. They had magical adventures in the Bahamas, Jamaica, Honduras, Guatemala and Belize. They docked Déjà Vu in a marina in Guatemala which was “hurricane safe” so that they could return frequently to sail. Déjà Vu was sold in 2015, and George passed in 2017 following a seven-year battle with multiple myeloma.

Kathleen wishes that George could share the honor of being nominated as a Windjammer Maritime Explorer with her as he was the risk taker and long wanted to sail the world. Kathleen likes to think that he’s out there on a beautiful, seaworthy boat that’s fully stocked with Heinekens. She feels very grateful for their shared nautical experiences.

Nan and Chip Davison have had a lifetime on the water. Both grew up sailing but on opposite coasts. Nan sailed on the west coast out of San Francisco and Chip sailed on Long Island and along the New England coast. In the mid 1970’s both embarked on longer voyages. Nan lived with her family on their 60 ft ketch for a year, sailing from San Francisco to Greece. Chip sailed from Maine to Puerto Rico as first mate on the Harvey Gamage. They met when Chip joined Nan’s parents’ boat as crew for the leg from Florida to Greece. The Davisons moved to Maine in 1978 and have been cruising in Maine and New England waters on their 48 foot ketch, Winsome, as well as multiple points south ever since. Many voyages have been solo, but on big passages family and friends often joined them as crew.

Their longest trip started in 2008 and lasted 3 years. They sailed as far south as Grenada, sometimes sailing 600 miles offshore and other times sailing down the inland water way. The stint on the inland waterway included going through the Dismal Swamp. The Dismal Swamp is one of the first inland canals which was dug during George Washington’s presidency. It spans 113 acres in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. Other adventures along the way included encountering an entire fleet of US Naval war ships on exercise near Camp Lejeune which they had to navigate around and through. They also rode a large wave through a cut in the Bahamas which “made us humble again.”

Their racing excursions included 3 Bermuda races with their daughters. In 2009 they sailed a Caribbean 1500 rally from Chesapeake Bay to Tortola with 60 other sailboats. During the rally they experienced 20-40 kt winds and 10-15 ft seas. They reached a peak speed of 14.6 kts surfing down a wave.

During their travels they saw up close and personal every kind of sea creature, including a flotilla of sea turtles that numbered in the thousands, whales, huge pods of dolphins, sharks, rays, and watched a leather back turtle the size of a Volkswagen lay eggs at midnight on a beach in Grenada. In Barbuda they visited a large nesting seabird colony famous for its diverse species of Booby birds. They were able to experience various cultures and met many wonderful people, some with whom they are still in contact.

Chip and Nan now sail in Maine in the summers, with friends and their 3 daughter’s families, watching the next generation of sailors enjoy being on the ocean and learning how to sail.

Although born outside of Maine while his father was stationed in Germany as a career US Army officer, Captain Brad Collins has lived in Maine for most of his life. He has resided in the Boothbay Region since the mid 1990s, first on Hodgdon Island and now Barter’s Island. He also attended college in Maine, graduating from Maine Maritime Academy with a BS in Nautical Science and a minor in Oceanography. Brad operated ships for 45 years and retired in 2021. For the first 23 years after graduation, he operated oil tankers. He first started as an unlicensed Able Bodied (AB) Seaman, progressing to Third Mate, then to Second Mate and Chief Mate, to ultimately as the vessel’s Master. Brad first sailed as Captain in 1990 when he was Master onboard the tanker Sealift Indian Ocean for 5 years and traveled worldwide. He was also the Captain of a Ro-Ro container ship, a Crane Auxiliary ship and of a special mission ship which worked predominately in the Middle East. During the last 22 years of Brad’s career, he operated United States Naval ships as a US Merchant Mariner and a civilian. His civilian duties included working for private companies contracted by the Department of Defense to operate the USNS vessels. Brad says that he was exceedingly proud to serve the US Miliary and the Department of Defense. During his career Brad also has operated side businesses including owning rental properties and leasing computers to colleges. He also created and owned Winterport Marina on the Penobscot River which dry stored approximately 135 boats, sold gas, diesel and supplies. The marina had Chris Craft and Seaway boat dealerships along with Cox trailers and Evinrude engines. After traveling extensively to an estimated 55 countries, Brad’s favorite place is in the United States at home. He is an accomplished boater, yachtsman and sailboat racer and currently owns vessels from 8-65 feet.

Glenn grew up in Boothbay on Hodgdon Island. He always loved working around and on the water as a young boy. He enjoyed clamming, worming and collecting seaweed for local lobster pounds and worm dealers. When he got older, he worked on the charter boats in the harbor and helped Captain Winslow on his tugboats. Attending Maine Maritime was a natural fit. He applied to Maine Maritime along with his good friend, Captain Kevin Murray. While attending Maine Maritime, Glenn was able to train and travel to distant ports including to Leningrad and St. Petersburg, Russia while on the State of Maine Training Vessel. After earning a Batchelor of Science degree in Business Transportation and third mate’s license, his first job was on a 300-foot research vessel out of Texas. After transiting the Atlantic and spending time off the shores of Malta and Lebanon, Glenn returned to the US for a new job offer with Gulf Oil. For the next six years he worked on oil tankers 500-600 ft long traveling up and down the east coast visiting numerous ports. Some trips brought him through the Panama Canal to several Mexican ports. Glenn’s wife Kim was able to accompany him one trip through the canal and up to San Francisco on the SS Gulf Queen, a 700-foot vessel. It was a once in a lifetime trip for Kim, who had a wonderful time despite a couple of days of seasickness. At the beginning of the eighties, Glenn sailed to Alaska bringing back crude oil to US west coast ports. In 1984 Glenn was hired by Keystone Shipping out of Philadelphia. He assumed his first command in 1986 as Captain on the SS Chilbar, a 600-foot chemical tanker. For the next 25 years Glenn delivered oil and chemical products to a multitude of ports in the US. He was in a shipyard in Halifax, Nova Scotia when 911 happened. Subsequently the new attention to security changed the entire process to moving cargo. A transfer to a fleet which traveled to foreign ports brought another opportunity to see the world. On this fleet Glenn traveled to South America, Central America, North Africa, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Sudan, Sierra Leone, the Ivory Coast, Ghana and Egypt. One very interesting trip was transporting grain from Houston, TX to Sudan and Djibouti. The people there were so appreciative to receive the grain as well as clothing and other goods that were distributed via the World Food Organization. After sailing for 30 years on tankers, Glenn was hired by a drilling company in 2010. He finished his career as Captain/Oil Installation Manger in charge of 900-foot drill ships. This job involved drilling wells for major oil companies, requiring flying to the rig via helicopter. Glenn recalls these years as the most interesting in his career due to the extent of the technology involved. Many of the wells were in 9000 feet of water and were drilled to 30,000 plus feet. A highlight of this time was spending two years in South Korea building, designing and delivering two new drill ships to the states. The voyage back passed the equator twice, an event that the crew celebrated. Glenn feels a great sense of pride when he looks back at his 44-year career in the maritime industry but says that it came with enormous sacrifice. He missed birthdays, holidays, school functions and other momentous occasions while his wife and daughter Holly kept the home fires burning. The bonus was that when he came home from a 2–3-month trip, he got to be home for that length of time as well.

Rusty Court is well known in these parts as a fisherman and lobsterman, but he also has quite the maritime history beginning in 1961. It was in that year that Rusty entered the Coast Guard and was stationed in Washington, DC as part of President John F. Kennedy’s Honor Guard. The Honor Guard presides over ceremonies such as at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and is present when visiting dignitaries arrive in Washington.

After a year with the President, Rusty was sent to Portland, ME to be on the Coast Guard cutter Acushnet. Most of his time on the Acushnet was spent on Georges Bank which is 130 miles offshore. As this was long before the 200-mile fishing limit was imposed, there were over one hundred Russian vessels fishing close to our shores. Rusty was given the job to be the ship’s photographer and to take pictures of all the Russian fleet for the government. He photographed 200-foot draggers and the 300-foot mother ship. Due to complaints from the northeast fisherman that the Russians were taking our fish, the 200-mile limit was subsequently imposed. On November 1, 1965, Rusty was honorably discharged from the Coast Guard.

Rusty then moved to Monhegan, a place where he had visited from the age of two and where his father had bought a house in 1947. For the next 20 years, Rusty focused his energies on commercial fishing and lobstering with purse seining in the summers.

In 1983 Rusty moved to the mainland and then built a house in East Boothbay in 1985. During this time, he was on the board of the Fisherman’s Memorial Fund which primarily raised donations to fund a scholarship for Boothbay Region seniors who were planning to attend a marine related school after graduation. He especially remembers the Fisherman’s Festival, a yearly event which occurred at the end of April. When not volunteering, he ran in the trap hauling contest as well. Rusty remarks that the highlight of the Fisherman’s Festival for him was seeing the town’s people having so much fun after a long winter.

Captain Court continues to reside in East Boothbay and is often seen around town at multiple venues and events. He has two children, Casey Anne Court and Eben Draper Court. If you want to be entertained, just ask Rusty about the adventures from his fishing days which range from at-sea rescues, practical jokes and celebrity encounters.

Bruce and Maureen Kinsey first met the summer of 1972, during college break while working at The Rocktide Inn Restaurant on the east side of Boothbay Harbor. Little did Maureen know their future would include many maritime adventures, most notably an annual voyage on their sailboat from September to May for seven years. Bruce first learned to sail as a child, spending summer vacations in East Boothbay while visiting his grandparents. Maureen on the other hand, first experienced boating on one of Boothbay Harbor’s tour boats.

Work at Sheepscot Machine intervened in Bruce’s dream to go cruising, but after retirement he spent six years restoring a 42-foot sailboat. Their first trip was down the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), to the Bahamas. The ICW is chain of channels linked together to provide passage along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts. The following years took them down the Caribbean Chain to Trinidad, then around Venezuela to Cartagena, Columbia and on to the San Blas Islands of Panama, then to Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, Mexico, Cuba, Jamaica and back to Maine.

As fate would have it, they met another couple and their puppy in St. Martin who had the same itinerary that year. They ended up sailing together for the next five years. Throughout their travels, Bruce and Maureen concentrated on meeting and making friends wherever they went. They lived like the locals, shopping, doing laundry and hiking around the areas they visited. They kept bikes on their stern to get around on land.

One of their most notable memories was attending a kite festival in Guatemala. During this festival, it is believed that the dead rise up to heaven on November 1st, All Souls Day, and they celebrate by flying beautiful kites made of heavy colored paper, including some non-flying ones as large as 20-feet high. The people gather in a big field to view the kites and buy food and crafts from vendors. In the afternoon, they fly the smaller kites. They also once spent the week of Easter in Antigua, Guatemala, watching the daily somber processions through the streets with up to 80 men carrying on their shoulders huge floats depicting the Crucifixion. These depictions are so heavy, that on every block there are different men lined up to take others’ places going forward. The townsfolk lay down flowers and colored sawdust in the streets to create beautiful carpets for the processions, and after it goes by, they are swept up and others are created for the next day.

Cuba was another never to be forgotten experience where they witnessed extreme poverty, but met so many joyful, generous, smart and inventive people! They were advised to take along gifts such as baseballs, baseball cards, jewelry, clothing, toiletries, etc. to share with the people they met along the way. When they gave these things away, they most often were gifted something in return, such as eggs, lobster, vegetables, even once a birthday cake!

In all, it was 10,000 miles of adventure and fun! Bruce and Maureen’s daughter Gretchen has also caught the sailing bug, but she and her family prefer sailboat racing to their slower pace of cruising and exploring.

“Messin’ Around in Boats” has been a large part of George’s life. He remembers as a toddler having his father rent a wooden rowboat to go rowing and exploring on Sunday afternoons on a lake near his childhood home. During his early teens, his parents purchased a house on Southport Island which included an 18’ centerboard sailboat. Not knowing a thing about sailing, he would row out to the boat on its mooring with his father and figure out what did what on the boat to make it sail. After figuring it all out, sailing was a popular pastime in his earlier days. A few years later, he went during the summer, as a stern man for Sid Gray, a local lobsterman, as well as a neighbor. He also ventured out to visit the lighthouse keepers on Burnt Island, an elderly couple who were employed the U.S. Lighthouse Service, helping them with various chores such as mowing the lawn and winding the mechanics that operated both the light rotation in the tower and the fog bell. His interest in lighthouses remained and in 1983 was instrumental in saving Ram Island Light Station from being torn down by the Coast Guard and is now a preserved national landmark.

George also made several voyages to Florida in the Intra Coastal Waterway moving boats between Florida and Boothbay Harbor during the spring and fall. In the mid 60’s he purchased a marine hardware facility on the waterfront in Boothbay Harbor known as Marine Supply, which later became the Tugboat Inn.

During this period he purchased the Block Island ferry, the Nelseco, built at Reed’s Shipyard on Atlantic Avenue, which was retired from service running out to Block Island from New London. Plans were to tie it next to the pier where the Tugboat Inn is presently and have a floating pub and restaurant. In the process of running the boat from New London to Boothbay Harbor the crew ran into a storm at night off Plymouth, MA and it sank with the crew being rescued by the Coast Guard.

In 1970, he purchased the 142’ Grand Banks Schooner, Sherman Zwicker, a sister ship of the famed Blue Nose. The schooner was fishing in Labrador from its homeport in Newfoundland and brought this vessel to Boothbay Harbor where it was a floating museum on Commercial Street and later it was displayed during the summer months at the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath. In the fall of each year, it usually made a trip to a Tall Ship event at different ports along the U. S. Atlantic Coast and Canada. They also sailed to Newfoundland on three different adventures between 1994 and 1997.

During the 1990’s, he explored the Caribbean each winter, first in his 44’ Cherubini Ketch, and then his 65’ Herreshoff schooner, Mistral, which he had constructed in Washougal, Washington by Legendary Yachts. During those years he based out of the Island of Grenada.

Presently, George spends much of his time maintaining the Nellie G II, built at Goudy & Stevens Shipyard in 1932. The Nellie G II was formerly the Squirrel Island ferry from 1932 to 1967 and is a familiar sight on the waters of the Boothbay Region during the summer months.

John Albaum’s boating history began at an early age at the Lake Placid region of Florida and also here in the Boothbay Region and progressed to a full time maritime career. Entering Maine Maritime in 2001, he graduated in 2005 with a 3rd Engineer’s License. During college he worked for the Boothbay Harbor Whale Watch.

His first job was right after college in the fall of 2005. John worked on an oil tanker in Alaska, shuttling from Kenai to Valdez with occasional trips to Washington and Hawaii. He was able to get his 100 ton Captain’s License which allowed him to run the Argo, Harbor Princess and the Bennie Alice during his time off from sea.

After working in Alaska, John was hired on with a general cargo company which mainly carried US food aid to Africa. The cargo ship visited many ports on the east and west coast of Africa. He worked on this ship for roughly five years which included a six month stint working in the Far East out of Singapore.

John’s next career move involved working on a dynamically positioned oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. This job included the opportunity to work on a new build rig in South Korea which he then helped to deliver it back to the Gulf of Mexico. In 2021 John was hired on with a tugboat and salvage company out of New Jersey. He worked there for about a year and highlights included towing a barge from Pascagoula, MI to Eastport, ME and successfully pulling the Ever Forward out of the mud in Chesapeake Bay.

In the spring of 2022 John bought a small boat repair and storage yard from a friend. He is now home full time and is the owner of Wound Up Marine Services which is located in the Boothbay Industrial Park. He has the help of some very good friends to keep the business running smoothly. Reflecting on his years at sea, John reports that he has crossed the equator multiple times, transited the Suez and Panama Canals and tied up behind the Maersk Alabama in Djibouti right before she was boarded by pirates. His only maritime regret is that he never circumnavigated the globe, but a goal for the future is to work on a training course or two on Maine Maritime’s TS State of Maine.

Annie Wilcox grew up with a strong foundation on the water in the Boothbay Region. She spent many summers as a child at her grandparent’s house on Sawyers Island (Bud & Ann Logan), messing around on the family’s Boston Whaler. She attended the Boothbay and Southport sailing schools, acquiring familiarity with all things aquatic. As soon as Annie could get her workers permit at 14, she applied to work at Hodgdon Yachts in the harbor at the gas dock. She loved working the docks, and had an awesome boss. These experiences and positive role models cemented her admiration for the water.

During high school, she completed Ocean Classroom’s semester at sea, onboard the Harvey Gamage, sailing around the Caribbean before sailing up the east coast to Acadia, and then back down to Boothbay Harbor. The experiential learning was invaluable. She said it was very special to be able to sail into your hometown after 4 months at sea, with friends and family waiting for her at the dock. Then, run your new/used car with friends through the mud puddles at the gravel pits. Goodbye 4 Runner.

Annie graduated BRHS in 2010, and began her college career at the US Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York. She made some great friends and had a lot of fun. Perhaps a bit too much fun! She transferred to New York Maritime in 2013, where she continued her pursuit of becoming a merchant mariner. Her cadet internship was on board the Maersk Idaho, a 900 ft container ship transiting the East Coast - over to the Mediterranean, through the Suez Canal - throughout the Middle East.

Upon graduation in 2017, Annie landed her first job as an Able Seaman onboard the Eagle Bay - an 800 ft crude oil tanker owned by Exxon Mobil, running from Valdez, Alaska to the West Coast. Shortly after her first hitch, Exxon sold their ships to Crowley, which left Annie looking for a new ship. She spent her time between shipping jobs working as a deckhand with the Maine State Ferry Service. Annie loved working in Penobscot Bay on the ferries, it’s a beautiful part of coastal Maine.

In late 2018, Annie’s next ship was a 900 ft Integrated Tug & Barge the Moku Pahu. This barge was actually built close to home at Bath Iron Works. She joined in Puerto Rico, transporting dry bulk cargo to Jacksonville, then down to Central America. She picked up her next job in early 2019, on a double eagle product tanker the Oregon, owned by Crowley Maritime. This ship carries refined products in the Gulf of Mexico. She then took a break from shipping in 2020, working at an oil terminal in Portsmouth, NH. It wasn't the best time to try out the shoreside lifestyle, because COVID hit. She decided to go back to sea in 2021. She took a job on a government crane ship the Grand Canyon State in San Francisco. It was a decommissioning project - basically putting the ship to bed.

Annie is currently a permanent mate on the Brenton Reef, owned by Seabulk Tankers, another double eagle class tanker. Annie finds older ships to be more interesting than new ones, as there are more projects and opportunities to learn. The Brenton Reef was on the Gulf of Mexico run up until December. These past 3 months, they have been running renewable diesel from the Mississippi River - thru the Panama Canal - up to Long Beach, CA.

Annie loves her job. She is currently taking her Chief Mate classes in hopes of climbing the ranks and getting promoted. When she’s not working, you can find her running around Boothbay Harbor on her Boston Whaler, skurfing in Linekin Bay, bringing friends (people from away) to see the seals in the Sheepscot, and making sweatshirts for the locals. Annie is very proud of being from the Boothbay Region, and to represent our community as a Maritime Explorer.

I am a boatbuilder and a sailor. I have sailed my entire life and have been a boatbuilder since 1972. But mostly I was a partner and companion with my late wife Judy Sandick and with our four kids, David, Sarah, Jasper and Charlotte.

Perhaps my love of the sea is genetic. My father sailed north on the Morrissey (now known as the Ernestina Morrissey) in 1936 when he was 16 on the first of his six trips to the arctic with Bob Bartlett. My mother sailed with Irving and Exy Johnson on their schooner Yankee. In the second World War my father served as Executive Officer on the Bowdoin for two years in Greenland before being transferred to the Pacific as CO on the USS Sumner doing the survey required before the US Naval Fleet could enter the uncharted harbors of the Pacific. After the war he acquired the 100’ schooner, Blue Dolphin, which he based here in Boothbay Harbor and used her to do oceanographic research work in Labrador and Greenland.

I sailed as a child long before my first memories and was one of many kids at the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club in the ‘50’s and ‘60’s. I launched my first boat, a 38’ Bjarne Aas cutter, in 1976. I sailed her extensively on the coast of Maine and made voyages to the Bahamas, the Caribbean and to Nova Scotia doing boat repair on other’s boats along the way. Much of my sailing in the Caribbean was single handed sailing.

I made a few deliveries as crew to the Caribbean from Maine while further establishing my business, David Nutt Boatbuilder, in Southport, Maine. My company maintained upwards of 50 boats doing all the routine maintenance, major rebuilds, as well as designing and producing the Southport 30, a Maine lobster boat used in the recreational market.

In the fall of 1998 my wife, Judy Sandick, and our 4 kids ages 3, 7,8,10 headed to the Caribbean from Maine on Alsager, our 42’’ Dick Carter design sloop. I had rebuilt the boat after acquiring her following a disastrous blowdown in a boatyard leaving her steel hull severely dented, her deck damaged, her fin keel bent 6’ to port and her mast in 3 pieces. This was supposed to be a 6-month family voyage and adventure, but we soon found we loved the lifestyle and each other so much that we set our minds on a circumnavigation.

We found Danza, a 60’ steel Robert Clark design, in fact a sistership to Chay Blythes’ original British Steel. Danza needed an extensive refit which I did at my own yard after bringing her to Maine from Puerto Rico in the spring of 1999.

We left Maine on March 25, 2000 after selling Alsager and my company and headed off on almost 6 years of sailing around the planet. Our route took us from Maine to Bermuda, the U.S. Virgins, Panama, Galapagos, Marquesas, Tahiti, and many of the other island groups arriving in New Zealand for the cyclone season. We then sailed north to Fiji including the Lau Group, a rarely permitted destination. We sailed on to Vanuatu and New Caledonia before making the long passage to Australia to once again duck south of the cyclone tracks. After the cyclone season passed, we made the 1200 mile windward passage back to New Caledonia and then on up to Vanuatu. From there we sailed north to Makira in the Solomon Islands. Due to the conflicts in the Solomons we were one of the first westerners to visit and many of the young children had never before seen members of the white race. Despite the plans to head on to Southeast Asia we headed back to Australia for the cyclone season again. It was too good to try to hurry along. The next season we head directly back to the Solomon Islands as we found it truly to be a magical place. We dropped back to Cape York in Queensland, Australia and Judy got off the boat and went down to Cooktown where she enrolled in a master’s Program in Public Health and Tropical Medicine. As a physician she was always furthering her education. The kids and I sailed on through much of Indonesia meeting up with Judy several months later in Singapore. Thereafter we crossed the Indian Ocean landing in Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Oman, Yemen, Eritrea, Sudan, and Egypt. From there we stopped in Israel, Turkey, Greece as well as the western Mediterranean countries before slipping out the Straits of Gibraltar and back into the Atlantic. An easy Atlantic passage followed by a slow trip up the islands and then landfall in the United States in Norfolk, VA arriving back at the town dock in Boothbay Harbor on June 5th, 2005. We sailed over 45,000 nautical miles and visited 42 countries and met wonderful people. Our return to Maine left us very different people than when we left. The kids had added years to their young lives and experiences that still shape them almost 2 decades on in time.

In 2010 we sailed to the west coast of Greenland and back. Three of my four kids as well as my dear Judy were crew. It was an amazing voyage getting as far north as Illulisat in Disko Bay, some 250 miles north of the Arctic Circle. I will regret for the remaining days of my life that we did not go back and do the Northwest Passage.

On our return I picked up my trade again taking care of the regions beloved Boothbay Harbor One Designs of which I built four new ones. Judy continued her work as a hospitalist at Miles Hospital. Our kids grew into adults, and I know they all harbor dreams of ocean voyages.

It took 14-year-old Barry Gibson almost two years of lawn mowing and snow shoveling to save up $300 to buy his first boat in 1965, a 10-year-old lapstrake 15-footer built by the E. M. White Co. here in Maine, powered by a 1956 30-hp Johnson outboard. He’s been on the ocean ever since.

Originally from Winchester, MA, Barry first came to Boothbay Harbor in the spring of 1968 with a high school buddy whose parents had a summer cottage on Spruce Point. Both hired on as deckhands on Capt. Bob Fish’s sightseeing boats Marabno II and Nellie G. IV and the Squirrel Island ferry Nellie G. II run by Bob’s father, Ray.

But Barry loved to fish, and spent much of his free time on the charter boat dock at Blake’s Marine, behind what is now McSeagull’s. He got to know some of the skippers, and in the summer of 1970 following his freshman year at the University of Miami he signed on as mate on the Arcade run by Capt. Tom Damery. Groundfish such as cod and pollock were the mainstay catches, and after the fish were filleted at the end of the day Barry was paid $10 and often received an additional $5 tip from the customers. Life was good.

Having accumulated enough sea time, Barry was able to sit for his six-passenger license at the Portland CG station in the spring of 1971, an exam consisting of 50 multiple-choice and 50 true/false questions. He was awarded a license that allowed him to operate between Port Clyde and Gloucester, and a few weeks later he and his buddy purchased a 1955 24’ plywood Bristol cabin cruiser (also Maine-built), named it Sasanoa, and promptly went into the charter fishing business.

Upon graduation from college in 1973, Capt. Barry went to work as a travelift operator at Boston Harbor Marina in Quincy, MA. In the spring of 1974 he bought a well-used 27’ lapstrake flybridge Luhrs and brought it up to Boothbay for a summer of chartering. He named it Shark after a boat he had fished on several times in Key West run by Capt. Joe Russell, who had occasionally skippered for Ernest Hemingway. Barry caught his first bluefin tuna, a 550-pounder, on the Shark with local tuna fisherman and car-repairer Dan Williams, who Barry had hired as mate and who was 15 at the time.

Barry sold the Shark in 1975 and bought a local Boothbay boat, a Webber’s Cove Downeast 34 named Sands of Time which he re-named Shark II. He ran it each season until 1987, when he sold it and bought a 31-foot Rampage sportfisherman, the Shark III. He operated that one until 1993, when he had local boatbuilder Brad Simmons finish off a new 36-footer, the Shark IV.

Capt. Gibson’s big break came in 1977, during his fourth winter at the Quincy boat yard, when, on a whim, he wrote a feature article about fishing off Boothbay for Salt Water Sportsman magazine based in downtown Boston. Several months later he received a call from SWS asking if he’s like to come and interview for the position of Associate Editor. “I didn’t have a clue as to what an associate editor was supposed to do, but I put on a suit and went to the interview. A week later I was hired. Outside of marrying my wife Jean it was the best thing that ever happened to me,” he says.

Barry’s 27-year tenure at SWS gave him the opportunity to fish in places he could have only dreamed about. His travels for the magazine took him to most of the coastal states in the U.S., including Alaska, along with Deep Water Cay, Walker’s Cay, Bimini, Chub Cay, and Andros Island in the Bahamas, Jamaica, Belize, Venezuela, Costa Rica (4 times), Panama (twice) and the Portuguese island of Madeira off northwest Africa. “Species targeted included marlin, sailfish, tuna, roosterfish, all sorts of tropical groupers and snappers, bonefish, tarpon, snook, wahoo, amberjack, salmon, halibut, and a dozen more,” he says. “There were plenty of adventures along the way, including the time in Panama where someone came into our room at a remote jungle lodge and stole our cash while we slept. Fishing rod cases got lost in airports, boats broke down, we once had to buzz a jungle airfield to get the pigs and sheep off before we could land, that sort of thing. But one of the high points was during a trip to Tamarindo in Costa Rica in 1991 where I managed to land a world record Pacific bigeye tuna on a fly rod. That record’s long since been broken, but I still have the certificate on my wall.”

Capt. Gibson was promoted to the position of SWS’s Editor in 1983, and soon began to take an interest in fisheries management. He served nine years on the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) dealing with the Northeast cod collapse of the 1990s, and as a member of the Advisory Committee to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas. He currently serves as the New England Regional Director for the Recreational Fishing Alliance, is vice-chair of the NEFMC Recreational Advisory Panel, is vice-president of the Northeast Charterboat Captains Association (which he co-founded in 1988) and serves on the Boothbay Port Committee. “I’ve always been a strong advocate for responsible fishery management and the rights of recreational anglers to access the resource,” he says. “but it’s an arena where you have to learn how to negotiate.”

Although Barry retired from Salt Water Sportsman in 2004, he continues to write about fishing, travel, and fishery management issues, and over the years. He has had some 1,500 articles and over 1,000 photos published in magazine ranging from Outdoor Life and Field & Stream to Maine Sportsman (where he has penned the monthly Saltwater Column since 1986), Sports Illustrated, and Anglers’ Journal, and currently serves as the Associate Publisher for the Toronto-based Center Console Life magazine. In addition to writing, he served as a Field Surveyor for Atlantic & Pacific Marine Consulting based in Gloucester, MA from 2005 to 2021, performing over 300 surveys on damaged boats to 70’ all along the Maine coast. “I really enjoyed the surveying work,” he says. “The people I dealt with were great.”

On top of everything on his plate, Capt. Gibson has run his charter service every summer here in Boothbay Harbor for the past 52 years, and in 2014 was named as one of Salt Water Sportsman’s World’s Top 50 Charter Captains. At age 72 he now primarily chases striped bass in the bays and rivers in his Shark Six, a 28’ center console, but gets offshore now and then for groundfish and sharks. “I love taking people fishing,” he says, “and I have no plans to retire. I’m going to keep at it as long as I can.”

Sewall’s love for the ocean first began when he was in grade school lobstering with his Uncle Earl Brewer, Sr. In 1977 he made his first trip on a trawler fishing with Richard McLellan on the Sea Bring. He later became captain at 19 on the 82 ft Irene’s Way which was built for Richard at Goudy and Stevens in East Boothbay. In the early 80’s Sewall started to captain for F. J. O’Hara and Son’s out of Rockland ME. He worked on the 110 ft Alliance and later on the 119 ft Araho, both stern trawlers, while fishing ground fish in the Gulf of Maine and on the northern edge of George’s Bank.

Sewall later fished outside the 200 mile limit from Newfoundland on the tail of the Grand Banks. These boats typically had a crew of 5-6 people and caught 30,000-100,000 lbs. of fish per trip with the fish being layered in ice in the fish hold. Fishing 950 miles from the dock in Rockland made for some of the worst winter storms ever experienced on the typical 12-14 day dock to dock trips. The crew was once caught in a storm while returning home on one of these trips while they were located in the deep water between the Tail of Grand Banks and Sable Island. The delay caused them to run out of fuel just south of Lunenburg, NS. Luck would have it that the F/V Teresa Marie II from Portland ME was passing by heading to the Great Banks, and luckily it was a short tow to the fuel dock.

The next chapter brought 23 year old Sewall to Alaska to be the captain of Golden Age Fisheries new 140 ft F/T (Factory Trawler) Rebecca Irene with a crew of 39. He transitioned to captaining the new 202 ft F/T Brown’s Point with a crew of 52 over the next year. He then moved on to Norway to captain the 275 ft F/T Michelle Irene with a crew of 85 and sailed its maiden voyage on Christmas Eve of 1988. The fishing grounds for these vessels covered a large area from the southeast Gulf of Alaska, north and south of the Aleutian Islands and the Bering Sea up to the Russian boundary. The fish were processed by H&G (head and gut) then sorted by species and size before being frozen in 16-19 kilo blocks. The Michelle Irene’s factory was converted to process Alaska Pollock into fillets and surimi in the summer of 1988. One of the most notable aspects of fishing in Alaska was the weather. Sewall remembers being in one storm when he was located 20 miles north of Dutch Harbor that had airport recordings of 140 mph winds.

With the decline of fishing on the east coast, O’Hara decided to take the 165 ft F/T Constellation to the west coast in 1990 As the captain of the Constellation, Sewall traveled from Rockland, ME to Seattle via the Panama Canal. Unfortunately while off the eastern end of Cuba the port main engine failed with a hole in the block. The crew was forced to return back to Jacksonville, FL to have the 1200 horsepower engine replaced. After the repair, they were able to resume the 28 day trip to Seattle. With a new processing factory and a crew of 39 they headed back to Alaska for a series of 7-14 day trips.

Sewall remained on this vessel until 1998 and then returned to the east coast. He subsequently purchased the 120’ Endurance in 1999. The Endurance was a scalloper/trawler from New Bedford, MA. He fished scallops during the late spring through early fall and then trawled for ground fish during the winter months. A few years later Sewall served as captain on the Starlite where he and his crew fished for herring and mackerel.

In 2007 Sewall returned to O’Hara working in the office managing fish quotas and operations. Due to changing laws limiting vessel quotas, they were able to begin work on a new ship in 2010 which was the first trawler built in the USA in 25 years The design began in Norway and the build of the new 196 ft Araho was completed in Panama City, FL. Sewall worked in Florida on that project from 2013-2017. In January of 2017 O’Hara bought the Alaska Spirit. Over the next four years Sewall participated in the rebuild/replacement of most of the systems and steel reconstruction of the Alaska Spirit while working on the west coast.

Sewall is now retired and in his spare time he enjoys fishing in his 38 ft boat. He feels a lot of joy when some of the younger fisherman call him with questions about boats they are purchasing. He would also like to highlight the good luck to work with many of his crew members from this area: Bill Rogers, Sr., George Blackman, Steve Arsenault, Sr., Craig Giles, Shannon Gilbert, Scott Heino, Randy Durgan, Shawn DeRepentigny, John Fossett, Bob Adams, Jr., Greg Wright, Bradley Simmons, Dan Stevens, Dan Carroll, Russell Pinkham, Howard Friant, Jody Durgan, Fred Stover, Tom Davis, Brian Pierce, Jody Murray, Matt Doucette and Sandy Maddocks Luke.

Terry is a lifetime boater. He started his journey as a young boy cleaning and crewing for family and friends. He also hauled a few lobster traps with his surrogate grandfather leading to one of his high school summer jobs as crew aboard an offshore lobster boat fishing out of Boston and Gloucester. These trips were 8 -10 days long, and the heavy wooden traps were the size of refrigerators. He sharpened his sailing skills over another summer on a schooner which was being delivered to Grenada.

Terry first came to the Boothbay area in the mid 70s while visiting a friend who was working at the Gulf dock. The crew at the dock asked Terry about his experience with outboards and his honest answer was that he didn’t know anything. This was the perfect answer because they offered to hire him on the spot and vowed to teach him everything he needed to know about outboard engines. After giving this offer some thought, Terry quit his charter boat job and moved to the Boothbay Region to work at Blakes Marine. He later transitioned into a job at Brewers Boatyard in Southport. Around the same time, he acquired his 200 ton Captain’s license and traveled from the Canadian Maritimes to the lower Caribbean as well as made multiple transatlantic crossings.

While working at Brewers, Terry bought an old lobster boat and started lobster fishing out of Newagen. He raked urchins and did odd job jobs during the winter while also doing yacht deliveries and charters. After a few years Terry fished from a larger and more capable boat and expanded to scalloping, groundfishing and shrimp fishing. He eventually bought an even larger boat which he used for gillnetting and scalloping in the Gulf of Maine. Fishing became increasingly time consuming, requiring multi day trips and moving up and down the coast to where the catch was most plentiful. Combined with winter time delivery and charter work this schedule was impacting his family life, and he came to the realization that he was missing most of his children’s activities. This led to the decision to transition into the world of fisheries management. After ~25 years of fishing, he understood the importance of balancing interests to protect both the natural resources and the commercial fisheries. He was unique to the field as one who had commercial fisheries experience. Terry then had a 21 year career at the Maine Department of Marine Resources primarily representing Maine on the New England Fisheries Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

During his years on the water Terry encountered some challenging situations such as storms, waterspouts, a dismasting and a lightning strike that caused the boat to catch on fire. In one instance he had a fuel bladder rupture which resulted in being stranded in the Cape Verde Islands for weeks until parts and more fuel could be delivered. Highlights from his transatlantic crossings include visiting the scrimshaw museum in the Azores, hiking in the volcanos in the Canary Islands, seeing the Barbary monkeys and caves in Gibraltar and being able to be in Monaco for the Grand Prix.

Currently Terry serves as the Edgecomb Harbor Master. He is a member of the New England Fishery Management Council Science and Statistical Committee. He continues to love boats in all forms and being on the water with his college girlfriend and now wife (Lauren) of 40+ years, their two children and their families and friends. Terry and Lauren have several Downeast cruises planned for this summer and this fall they plan to travel from Edgecomb to the Florida Keys and Bahamas in their 42 ft trawler.

A serendipitous meeting set the stage for a lifetime of cruising, long-distance sailing and ocean racing for an Edgecomb family. Gale and Charlie Willauer met on board the R/V Westward in 1978 as the ship departed for the open ocean. That pivotal 6-week voyage on Sea Education Association’s 125’ steel schooner WESTWARD took Charlie and Gale from Woods Hole, MA to Bermuda and north again to St. Pierre and Miquelon - French Islands off the coast of Newfoundland and marked of the beginning of their 40 years together.

Charlie has deep roots on the Maine coast. His father founded the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School in Penobscot Bay in 1964. Charlie’s experience at Hurricane Island included years of “messing about in boats”. As a teenager he jumped at opportunities to race, cruise, or join deliveries on any sailboat. At age18, Charlie had a 30 ton USCG license - and those credentials led to roles as captain, running several racing boats and campaigning them throughout the waters of New England. Charlie has competed in over a dozen Bermuda Races and captained multiple offshore passages from Newfoundland to the Caribbean and Trans-Atlantic. Charlie’s ocean-going experience wasn’t limited to sailing vessels. Working at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution as an ocean engineer and later, with several large consulting firms deploying oceanographic equipment, he sailed on oceanographic ships in the Atlantic, Pacific and the Chukchi Sea (Alaska) deploying instruments amidst the pack ice.

Gale grew up on Cape Cod where she sailed 420s and Day Sailors at the Stage Harbor Yacht Club in Chatham. Her ocean experience began on the R/V Westward on which she crewed for 4 years as steward. With several friends as crew, Gale and her 4 year son, Cory sailed from Quissett Harbor to Cork, Ireland the summer of 1986 on her 41’ sloop Flemish Cap. The following summer Gale and Charlie sailed Flemish Cap westward to the U.S. via Madeira, Bermuda and on to Woods Hole. Becalmed for almost 2 weeks in the “horse latitudes” they finally found wind and a new spinnaker; navigating with a sextant, compass and Dead Reckoning (as it was before the time of GPS!)

Family Cruising is how the Willauers ‘vacation’. Maine is among their favorite cruising grounds as well as the Bahamas, Caribbean or Puget Sound. Following the 2018 Newport - Bermuda Race the five Willauers returned their uncle’s Breezing Up, a J-46 from Bermuda to Portland as a family reunion of sorts! It was the fourth of July weekend - why not sail the boat 700 miles home to Maine?!

The Willauer’s sons have continued the tradition of ocean sailing; Cory, who accompanied Gale on his first trans-Atlantic at age 4, was an instructor on Ocean Classroom’s Spirit of Massachusetts and led multiple Chewonki trips in kayaks; Cory and his brother, Charlie, Jr. made another Atlantic crossing with their grandfather on his J-42 Eight Bells from Newport to Gibraltar in 2006. All three sons have joined the family crew to compete in the Newport - Bermuda Race which is the biennial open-ocean thrash across the Gulf Stream 635 miles from Newport, RI to Bermuda.

Young Charlie holds the record amongst the brothers with eight Bermuda races under his belt. Not only has Charlie raced many times to Bermuda, he has competed in the Nantucket Race week, FIGAWI Race, Key West Race week and been on multiple deliveries from Martinique, Maine, Bermuda and Charleston. Three in the Willauer family, both Charlies and Pete are members of the Cruising Club of America (CCA); the organization which coordinates and runs the Newport-Bermuda Race.

Pete hopped aboard Eight Bells with brother, Charlie and their grandfather for an epic and rough voyage from Norfolk, VA to Nevis in the West Indies the autumn of 2012 in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Charlie and Pete crewed on board the 92’ maxi boat Med Spirit the 2012 Bermuda Race when Med Spirit set the new Open Division record that year of 45 hours, 26 minutes, 28 seconds… three hours faster than the previous record.

In 2015, brothers Charlie and Pete raced in the Trans-Atlantic Race on board Solution - an Aage Nielsen 60’ wooden sloop only to be knocked down mid-ocean and suffered damage to their rudder. They made their way to Horta for repairs.

The piece de resistance in recent memory is of Pete Willauer (age 28 at the time) with his partner, Angel Collinson departing from the Willauer’s dock in Edgecomb located just west of the Oven Mouth entrance. Gale and Charlie stood on their float and let go the dock lines of Pete and Angel’s 40’ steel sloop, SEA BEAR knowing that their next landfall lay 2,400 miles to the east at the island of Faial, Azores. First Mate for that voyage east was brother, Charlie Willauer and his future wife, Maddie Carrellas. Pete and Angel continue their voyage on SEA BEAR; Since departing they have sailed twice across the Atlantic and are now in Panama on their way to the San Blas Islands on their extended voyage around the world. I guess you can say it’s a family thing!

Gale and Charlie live in Edgecomb and memories of their sailing voyages adorn the walls of their house. They can be seen sailing their Watch Hill 15 Reverie out to the Cross Point Bell and in through the Oven Mouth passage on the high tide.

Don Demers first came to the Boothbay Harbor area in 1964 after his grandparents built a cottage on Ocean Point. For the first time he saw schooners and was “transfixed” with gaff riggers and the local fishing craft. Since no one in his family sailed or boated, Don learned about the ships from observation and the many books that were supplied to him by his grandfather’s best friend Judge “Chet” Marden who had an extensive marine library. Judge Marden allowed him to take one book at a time to study which led Don to make drawings of the vessels and build crude ship models.

While in art school in Boston Don learned to sail after joining a local sailing club. This gave him the opportunity to sail Solings and J 24s among other sailboats. Around that time George McEvoy invited Don to sail to Nova Scotia aboard the Sherman Zwicker. It was such a wonderful experience that Don became officially hooked on boating and the sea. Shortly after Don was introduced to the vessel Unicorn, a brig (two masted square rigger) which Don initially went on as a student, then a volunteer and eventually a paid deck hand. He worked on her for a year or two sailing up and down the East Coast. This led to working aboard a number of other traditional vessels until he returned to New England to begin his career as an illustrator and marine painter. Don interrupted his art career to deliver a staysail schooner named Fair Sarae to San Diego. This voyage commenced in Jamaica and traveled through the Panama Canal on its way to southern California.

Many of Don’s voyages were skippered by J.B Smith who is well known to this area and beyond. Don says that he will always owe a debt of gratitude to J.B. for his friendship and leadership and lessons about the ways of a ship and the sea. Don’s sea experiences are remembered as wonderful, exciting and sometimes rugged and they also offered the opportunity to make lifelong friendships.

Don’s passion for the ocean combined with his love for illustrating and painting has led him to be considered one of the finest marine and landscape artists in America. His paintings are found in the some of the most prestigious public and private collections in the country. He has been honored four times in the annual exhibition of the Society of Illustrators. His marine paintings have garnered him a record 21 awards at the Mystic International Marine Exhibition. Don is a highly sought after instructor with his teaching taking him all around the United States and Europe.

Don continues to return to his home on Ocean Point in the summers and maintains a studio in East Boothbay. He is a supporter of many organizations in the Boothbay Region and his paintings can be found at Gleason Fine Art.

While successful as a fisherman, Cameron always kept his childhood dream alive. From a young age, he would remind himself “I fish so I can afford to go sailing”. For Cameron, Windjammer Days were better than Christmas. He wanted nothing more than to one day be a captain of an authentic windjammer. Mary Day was his fantasy schooner. But he also loved the Victory Chimes. At the young age of 16 years old, he bought his first sailing vessel. A 26’ gaff-rigged sloop from the little Riverside Boat yard in Damariscotta. She was a Herreshoff design built in 1910 of yellow pine. Up to the point, his only sailing experience included ice boating on Adams Pond. Incidentally, Cameron’s father, Myron, built the ice boat from an old swing set. Although she could go rogue at any time, she flew. So, he hopped aboard and headed down the Damariscotta by himself. Cameron has some smooth sailing and terrifying moments but didn’t compare to the squall he encountered between Spruce Point and Squirrel Island. This is when he really learned to sail! This was baptism by fire, but as he sailed into the harbor, he felt like an old pro.

That summer Cameron was ready and anxious to take on the schooners at Windjammer Days, he sailed 26’ his own gifted-rigged, sloop Harbor Ghost, stealthily alongside the Victory Chimes. Two of her flags hung off the transom, without missing a beat, he slid by and grabbed them both. Later hoisting them up into his rigging with his own flags, he had given the captain of the Victory Chimes a challenge. That night two of the crew of the Victory Chimes came about his boat and took their flags back along with Cameron’s. By the next morning, Cameron’s flag flew high up in the rigging of the Victory Chimes. Captain Giles had one up on him and still does. Back then he was known for threading a needle between the schooners and other boats in the crowded harbor under full sail. A jug of wine as always visible was towed off his stern. He was truly in his glory.

Over the span of forty-eight years, Cameron has never held a position on land. In his youth, he fished with his father, Myron, his Uncle Bob, and cousin Richard on the Lucille B. The Lucille B and the McLellan family focused on shrimp and whiting and with prolific success, they branched out and grew which led to adding boats to their fleet. Myron, Cameron’s father had the Barbara L built and his Uncle commissioned the Miss Paula and his cousin Richard took over the Lucile B. The shrimping was plentiful in the 1970s and the fleet grew larger to include the Sea Bring and the Irene’s Way. His brother-in-law, Cyrus had the Cynthia. The catch was plentiful, but the work was hard, and the McLellan family thrived. Back during that time, the McLellans and their sixvessel fleet fished out of Boothbay Harbor and landed their vast catches at Malpeque for Jimmy Genovese.

In his early 20s, Cameron struck out and partnered with George Whitten to build the Amy W. The Amy W was a 63’ fishing vessel built by Eddie Gamage of East Boothbay. Once launched, Cameron became her captain. With a growing family, Cameron and his wife were building a home and settling into a fishermen's lifestyle. Although a young captain, Cameron’s skill and experience led to some interesting opportunities. Through one such opportunity, he experienced a tour of Alaska fishing. This was a great adventure, but Maine and his young family called him home.

By 1988, Cameron was ready for a larger vessel and purchased the Crown Royal, an 89’ Rhode Island-built steel stern trawler. For almost a decade, Cameron and crew fished the Gulf of Maine and George’s Banks on the Crown Royal. Another opportunity emerged in the Spring of 1991, Cameron was invited to the country of Chile to the city of Concepcion to teach the fishermen how to both build flounder nets and how to fish them. In 1995, the National Oceanic Atmosphere Administration (NOAA) offered fishermen a buyback program for groundfish vessels. With the sale of the Crown Royal, Cameron was able to design and build the Adventurer and he captained her for eleven years. In that same year, Cameron bought a larger sailboat. He named the 53’ traditional coastal schooner after his grandfather Curly - A.E. McLellan.

Cameron sold the Adventurer with a solid plan to make sailing his life and income but in 2008, tragedy struck the McLellan family. The youngest McLellan son, Captain Shawn McLellan, passed away and Cameron put his dream on hold and took the helm of Shawn’s vessel The Elizabeth. This was a challenging year and Cameron recalls; this was the hardest thing he would ever do or will do in his life.

Cameron's luck turned when he came across a 63’ Chris White custom design catamaran (Concept 63). Heron had been abandoned for eight years and he spent months refitting her and getting her back out on the ocean where she belonged. Cameron single-handedly set sail from Portland, Maine on Heron for the United States Virgin Islands and the Caribbean. By 2011, he had her Coast Guard inspected and licensed in St. Croix to carry 42 passengers and his charter business began. Since then, Heron has chartered out of Sag Harbor, NY, the Hamptons, USVI, St Barts, Palm Beach, Charleston, South Carolina, Manhattan, and Newport, RI. Over the last fourteen years, Cameron has made twenty-eight passages from New England to the Caribbean – through the Bermuda Triangle -over 9000 nautical miles. Sixteen of them were solo.

Cameron, as a solo sailor, does have a first mate. His sailing companion is Tola, a coconut retriever found in a trash bin on the island of Tortola. She was just hours old, but getting her sea legs didn’t take long. Tola has been the first mate on Heron for two years now. Cameron is living out his dream with a successful sailing charter business all due to his foundational seafaring years, love for sailing, and commitment to life on the sea.

One of Nat Wilson’s earliest memories was summering on Fisherman Island and learning to row in a dory with his brother Gregg, sister Janet, father Jack and his uncle Jim. As they grew stronger, they would make trips to all the other outer islands in a fleet of two dories and skiff Beloved. In the summer of 1967 Nat Wilson was making the daily commute to the Ocean Point Inn to work, rowing to and from Fisherman Island each way. By the summer of 1969 Nat was working for Eliot Winslow on the Argo as a deck hand. That summer he received his draft notice. Upon hearing this Eliot said, “take the day off and drive to the Portland Coast Guard recruiter and sign up”. There were two openings left for October and Nat signed up on the spot.

After boot camp Nat was assigned to the Public Information Office in Cape May, NJ where he did layout for Coast Guard publications and assisted the base photographer. The Coast Guard had a sailing team in Cape May, NJ and their fleet consisted of three Thistle Class Sloops. Nat was given one to use and race at the Cape May Corinthian Yacht Club on the weekends. The Cape May Coast Guard sailing team was invited to represent the Fourth Naval District in a Navy wide regatta at Annapolis Naval Academy. Using Naval Academy sailboats they sailed in three races per day and the competition ran for several days. They earned a third place finish in that regatta.

Nat then transferred to New London, CT and was stationed on the USCG Barque Eagle in early Spring of 1971 and that was when his sailmaking training began. When in port Nat reported to the academy sail loft to learn sailmaking skills and to repair sails from the academy fleet. In 1972 the Eagle began her spring cruise to the Gulf Coast making visits to Galveston, TX, New Orleans, LA and Mobile, AL. While underway the captain received orders to return to New London to prepare for a transatlantic passage to the Isle of Wight, UK. They were to participate in the Sail Training Race with other sail training vessels. The Eagle had also been chosen to take part in Olympic Events in Kiel, Germany. It took sixteen days to sail from New London to the Island of Wight, tying up at the Portsmouth Naval Yard Spit Head. The race started in the Solent River east of the Isle of Wight with two other Class A vessels, Bark Gorch Fock II and the Polish Training Ship Dar Pomorza. The course was mostly in the North Sea to the Northern tip of Denmark at the Skagens Rev Light Vessel, a 645 mile race to the windward. It was a challenging race for both vessels and crew. The Eagle finished third and within six hours of the winner, Dar Pomorza. A full account of the race was published in the Proceedings of the Naval Institute in February of 1974. The three training vessels traveled in tandem to Malmo, Sweden. Here they joined the fleet of vessels that raced from Helsinki, Finland. Sail training vessels flags participating were British, Dutch, French, German Polish and Swedish.

After Sweden, the Eagle sailed to the ancient walled port of Lubeck, Germany which was her homeport when she was the German Training Vessel Horst Wessel. They received a moving reception there. They were open daily to the public with visitors of former crew expressing their emotions outwardly to be onboard their old ship. Some wanted to see the engine room as their main engine was the original MAN diesel, the same engine used in German U Boats. From Lubeck they then traveled down the Trave River which was the dividing line between East and West Germany. To the east was a no man’s land and to the west was the resort port of Travamunde. The Eagle was heading to the Bay of Kiel to join six other square rigged sailing vessels plus schooners and a fleet of some estimated 2000 spectator vessels. The waterfront was in festival mode with beer tents, brass bands and all sorts of food as Kiel was hosting Olympic sailing and other water events. The festivities all came to a halt overnight when the violent terrorist attacks associated with the Munich Massacre occurred. Captain Cassidy addressed the crew and told them that they were departing soon and were not allowed ashore. The Academy Cadets were flown back to New London, CT. Additional crew was added to the ranks of the Eagle including two college age crews and several Navy sub mariners to round out the deck and engine room watches for the passage home. The Eagle then experienced the best sailing, driven by strong trade winds. They had stops in Lisbon and the island of Madeira in Portugal. Between Madeira and home, they encountered 12 hours of tropical storm conditions before arriving back in New London, CT.

Nat’s next transatlantic passage began in August 1974 when he took a leave of absence from his job at Mystic Seaport to take a mate’s job on the 103 ft schooner Puritan for her passage to Palma, Mallorca. Along the way they visited Bermuda, traveled onto Horta in the Azores and the Strait of Gibraltar. This was the start of a twenty year relationship with the Puritan under three captains and two owners, both making her sails and helping crew racing in Costa Smeralda, Sardinia, Imperia, Italy and Saint Tropez. Puritan became one of the first Large Classic Yachts to race in the regattas in the Mediterranean. Another compelling adventure during this time involved being part of the crew of the Sheila Yeates when she became icebound off the coast of Greenland in the summer of 1989. For a full account, pictures and video footage click HERE.

A former captain called Nat in March 1997 and said he had taken over the refit of the schooner yacht Mariette which was built in 1915-1916 by Nathaniel Herreshoff. After refit she was to enter the Atlantic Challenge Race from Sandy Hook to the Lizard Light in Cornwall, England. Nat was responsible for maintaining the sails and also to stand a watch. Ted Smith from Southport also sailed in this race, but on the William Fife ketch Sumurun. The Mariette also has a Boothbay Harbor connection as during WW2 she served as a submarine patrol vessel and after the war she was laid up at Frank L. Sample’s Shipyard. Soon after she had a new owner with a new name of Gee Gee II with Captain Fuller Dunton of Boothbay Harbor as the sailing master. Sample’s Shipyard installed a new 130 ft hollow Marconi main mast and changed her rig into a staysail schooner.

Sailmaking remained a mainstay while Nat was on land in his sail loft in East Boothbay. He is most proud of the work that his loft did on making the sails for Old Ironsides. He was given the opportunity to sail on her three times. Another milestone achievement was working in partnership with North Cloth, which was the fabric division of North Sails. He and North Cloth developed a sailcloth named Oceanus which was designed for heavy displacement sailing vessels. It has proven to be a durable sailcloth with good sail shape retention and is now in its 28th year of production. Nat is proud to share a select list of the large sailing vessels that set sails built in his sail loft over the last 50 years in his loft: Iron Bark Elissa, Galveston, Texas, Barkentine Gazela of PHILADELPHIA, Schooner Lewis R. French, Topsail Schooner Shenandoah, Topsail Schooner Pride of Baltimore, Schooner American Eagle, Ship Mayflower II, Schooner Lady Maryland, Schooner Lettie G Howard, Schooner Victory Chimes, Schooner Harvey Gamage, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Whaling Ship Charles W. Morgan, USCG Bark Eagle, Gloucester Schooner Adventure, Schooner Yacht Puritan, Schooner Yacht Adventuress, Fife Ketch Bella Venture, NY-50 Spartan.

The Wilson Family’s maritime tradition has continued on with son Nat who was born in Boothbay Harbor in 1977 and at the early age of 6 months sailed with his parents to Barbuda from Antigua. This was a prelude of things to come. Growing up he sailed along the Maine coast and upon graduation from the Boothbay Harbor Regional High School he took his first professional sailing job on the Tall Ship Rose as a deckhand. The Rose was located in Hawksnest Bay, St. John which enabled Nat Jr to spend the winter sailing the Caribbean and then eventually returning to Bridgeport, CT via Key West. That next summer he got his Maine Guide license for sea kayaking tours and ended up working at Tidal Transit near the Chowder House in downtown Boothbay Harbor. The following winter Nat jumped a one way flight to Fort Lauderdale looking for yacht work. Two weeks later he ended up in Venezuela, then sailed to Trinidad where he spent the winter before sailing back to Florida and returning to Maine in his newly bought Toyota truck. He worked between Maine and the islands for many years.

In 2005 Nat flew to Australia where he joined the schooner Adix in Sydney Harbor. He spent a few weeks there before departing for the Roaring Forties (the strong westerly winds in the Southern Hemisphere) and New Zealand. He spent six months in NZ before sailing to Bora Bora, Mora and then onto the Pitcairn Islands and the Galapagos. The voyage continued through the Panama Canal and commenced at Newport, RI.

After spending the summer cruising the Northeast, Nat Jr then departed to Europe where he spent two years on classic sailing yachts before sailing to the Caribbean on the yacht Eleonora. From there he captained yachts including the 88ft ketch Sincerity and the ketch Ticonderoga between the Caribbean and the Northeast on a regular basis.

In 2016 Nat moved to Charleston, SC and started a marine service company which repairs yachts. He continues to sail and explore new places via motorcycle with his travels taking him across the USA and most recently to Labrador.

Brother Eben Wilson was drawn to the water at an early age too as he says that with parents like his they were on the water from week one. By age 5 he was easily rowing small boats around. One summer at a small craft meet at the Maine Maritime Museum a man named Plat Monford saw Eben rowing the Whitehall around and thought he should design and build a lightweight skin on frame one for easier use. That led to the design called the Ebenezer Wilson which can still be bought on the WoodenBoat website.

At age 8 Eben got his first lobster license and acquired his great grandfather’s 1932 dory for a handshake. He fished with her for a few years rowing to his traps until he got a flat bottomed skiff with a 2.5 horsepower outboard. Over the next years Eben had several different boats for lobstering, gradually getting bigger until he bought a 32 ft Jonesporter when he was just out of high school. Sailing was always mixed into their adventures throughout the years as well as working in the sail loft with their father in the winter.

By his early 20s Eben was ready for a change and in December of 2007 he took all his lobster gear and boat to the Caribbean to get jobs on yachts. With his sailmaking experience he landed a job working in the repair loft in English Harbor, Antigua. His brother Nat was also in the Caribbean at the same time working on the classic schooner Eleonora. That winter Eben was able to sail in five Caribbean regattas and then got a position for the race and delivery crew on the William Fife schooner Altair. The Altair and crew left Antigua in early May of 2008 and sailing to Scotland via Horta, Azores. That June they sailed in the William Fife regatta in the River Clyde. This and other experiences catapulted Eben into the classic yacht scene in the US and Europe.

Eben has been back home since 2011 and has returned to lobstering full time, but he still races often and is connected with many programs and boats, most notably the Herreshoff New York 50 Spartan. He has been the Spartan’s primary rigger and sailmaker working along with his father Nat for 13 years. The Spartan is based in Palma, Mallorca. Eben and his wife now own their own classic yacht Zephyr which was built in East Boothbay at the P.E. Luke yard in 1961. It is a varnished hull Sparkman & Stephens Gulfstream 36. They take their girls sailing up and down the Maine coast throughout the summer.

Nat’s youngest son Nick spent a number of summers in high school and college on the sea working first as an apprentice on the Schooner Lewis R. French, and then as crew on the Schooners Shenandoah and American Eagle. After moving to San Francisco, he bought a classic 1940s Bear Boat and sailed all over San Francisco Bay with his soon to be wife Robin. He has continued to love sailing the family Herreshoff sloop when back in Maine.

Nat Sr has now owned his boat Tarpon for 48 years come this June. Sailing in local waters with his wife Rhonda has given him the most enjoyment and he reports always making it home on a favorable tide. He hopes that his grandchildren will continue the sailing tradition as they grow

Boothbay Maritime Explorers