Page 4. MAINE COASTAL NEWS October 2010


Maine Coastal News P.O. Box 710


(207) 223-8846


Winterport, Maine 04496-0710 U.S.A. E-mail - igmatats@aol.com


Web site: www.mainescoast.com Fax (207) 223-9004 Publisher's Note


It has been a very interesting last month. First I must apologize for not getting James H. Rich’s obituary in the last issue. One of the hardest things in this business to do is report the bad news and I was shocked to learn about Rich’s passing and the details surrounding it. However, I respect his deci- sion. Over the years I always enjoyed going into his shop and discussing all sorts of issues, mostly on boatbuilding. He did have an infectious smile, he had a great reputation, one well-deserved, and it is somebody I will sorely miss. One thing I always found inter- esting about Rich was that he owned a Ralph Stanley built boat. He was one of the finest builders on the coast but didn’t own one of his own boats.


Maine Coastal News is dedicated to covering the waterfront of State of Maine. It covers commercial fishing, yachting (power and sail), boat yard and waterfront news and maritime history. Maine Coastal News is published 12 times per year. The distribution of Maine Coastal News is from Eastport to Kittery and is free on the newsstand. It also can be by subscription. A year subscription, 12 issues, is $20.00. A single copy is $2.00, which covers the postage. Foreign rates for subscriptions are $40.00 per year. The Maine Coastal News office is located at 966 North Main Street, Winterport, Maine. Comments or additional information write: Maine Coastal News, P.O. Box 710, Winterport,


Maine 04496. Publisher Editor-in-Chief


Jon B. Johansen Rachel Elward


Advertising Deadlines: The deadline for the November issue is 15 October. The deadline for the December issue is 19 November.


MCN's Calendar


OCTOBER 2 PYC Fall Series Portland Yacht Club Portland


9 PYC Fall Series Portland Yacht Club Portland


16 Maine Lobster Boat Racing Banquet


Trade Inns Motor Inn Rockland


Info: Dinner Reservations (207) 223-8846


Room Reservations (207) 596- 6661


2011


JUNE 18 Boothbay Lobster Boat Races Brown’s Wharf Boothbay, Harbor


Info: M. Farnham (207) 380-5295 N. Page (207) 380-5892


19 Rockland Lobster Boat Races O’Hara’s North Facility Rockland, Harbor


Info: S. Brooks (207) 354-8763


JULY 2 Moosebec Lobster Boat Races U. S. Coast Guard Station Beals Island/Jonesport


Info: E. Blackwood (207) 598-6681


9 Searsport Lobster Boat Races Searsport Town Dock Searsport


Info: Otis’ (207) 548-6362 10 Stonington Lobster Boat Races


Town Dock Stonington


Info: N. Wiberg (207) 348-2375


23 Friendship Lobster Boat Races Barge, middle of harbor Info: Wes Lash (207) 832-7807


24 Harpswell Lobster Boat Races Dock off Mitchell Field Harpswell


Info: H. Barnes (207) 725-2567


AUGUST 13 Winter Harbor Lobster Boat Races Winter Harbor


Info: C. Byers (207) 963-7139


14 Merritt Brackett Lobster Boat Races


State Park Restaurant Pemaquid


Info: D. Drisko (207) 677-2432 L. Crane (207) 563-8707


20 MS HarborFest Lobster Boat Races Portland Yacht Services Portland


Info: K. Jordan (207) 799-6718 26-28 Shipyard Cup


Hodgdon Yachts/Wotton’s Wharf East Boothbay/Boothbay Harbor


OCTOBER 15 Maine Lobster Boat Racing Award’s Banquet Trade Winds Motor Inn Rockland


Info/Dinner Reservations: (207) 223-8846


Hotel Reservations: (207) 596-6661


In mid-September my wife and I took a trip to Baltimore, Maryland where I was to give a lecture to the Maritime History Confer- ence, which is detailed below. My talk was on the evolution of the Maine lobster boat, which went extremely well. As I was putting the lecture together it was obvious that there is still so much more work needing to be done to answer some of the questions about the lobster boat’s evolution. One problem I think that will not be overcome is that some of the material has been lost forever. Fortunately, there are some old photographs floating around and locating these and documenting the changes that took place over the years needs to be done soon before this material is lost. I guess the most interesting aspect of this evolution is the ties between the peapod, the Friendship sloop, the Hampton and their influences on the lobster boat design. When doing the front page article for this issue, I discussed with Bruce Cunningham about the


The Ninth Maritime Heritage Confer- ence held in Baltimore from 15-19 September was the successful culmination of a partner- ship between the Naval Historical Founda- tion and Historic Ships in Baltimore and over two dozen other maritime organizations in- cluding the National Maritime Historical So- ciety, the Historic Naval Ships Association, and the American Lighthouse Coordinating Committee. The conference, held under the auspices of the National Maritime Alliance, an informal association of the nation’s lead- ing maritime heritage organizations, brings together members from the various maritime heritage clans every three years to exchange perspectives on the state of historical preser- vation and educational outreach. This year’s theme “The Maritime Nexus: Re-connecting Landsmen with their Seago- ing Heritage” set the stage for a dynamic plenary session and 72 break-out sessions that were held concurrently over the three day conference.


changes he noted in the Maine lobster boat over his years as a builder. He added some insight into the changes made to the Friend- ship sloop as it became a power boat. This would be another interesting aspect to re- search in order to figure out how much influ- ence this was on the lobster boat of today. Another aspect would be to document what Will Frost brought with him from Digby, Nova Scotia. To get an accurate understand- ing of this would be to document the boats that were being built at Digby before and after Will Frost left there.


What about the influences from other places along the East Coast? It is obvious that some people who moved along the coast would bring ideas from other places. If anyone has old photographs of lob- ster boats especially around 1900 please let me know. We need to save this history before it is too late.


For those that have not been to Balti- more, they have created a very interesting waterfront. They have several historical ves- sels at the docks which includes a WWII submarine, a lightship, a Coast Guard cutter, and the USS CONSTELLATION. Since the Maritime conference was going on, there was also the Coast Guard bark EAGLE, an Army tug, and the N/S SAVANNAH available for viewing. I also took a walk over to the Indus- trial Museum and looked at the old tug BAL- TIMORE, which suffers from thin plates on her bottom. Unfortunately, this museum was not open, but certainly looked interesting. I also toured the aquarium, which took most of the afternoon to go through. For those that have not been to Baltimore and enjoy touring vessels this stop is a must.


9th Maritime Heritage Conference ard.


Jeremy Weirich from Senator Barbara Mikulski’s office spoke to the gathering about the Maritime Heritage Act of 1994 and the current state of funding for programs, urging that the attending organizations coor- dinate with each other to speak with one voice on priorities.


The kick off plenary session featured David Rockefeller Jr., Jose Fuentes, and Admiral John C. Harvey, Jr. Rockefeller, President of “Sailors for the Seas” discussed the importance of understanding our mari- time heritage if we are to be good stewards of the oceans resources. Jose Fuentes, Chair- man of OpSail, discussed the history of his organization and the international appeal of tallships as a means to connect people to their maritime roots. Admiral Harvey discussed how his upbringing in Baltimore reading the newspaper columns of reporter Helen D. Bentley set him on to a naval career path and detailed the Navy’s plans to partner with OpSail for a series of signiture tall-ship-Navy events beginning in 2012.


Author Clive Cussler received recogni- tion for his efforts to discover vessels lost at sea. Noted for locating the CSS Hunley, Cussler discussed some of his other efforts, including searches for the Bonhomme Rich-


One of those priorities where there seemed to be little past coordination was the future of USS Olympia. A roundtable discus- sion brought together representatives from the Independence Seaport Museum, the Friends of Olympia, the Pennsylvania His- torical Commission, the National Park Ser- vice, and the U.S. Navy to discuss the current condition of the ship and future options for the historic ship. While the roundtable did not agree on or find a course of action, it did much to clarify understanding of the obliga- tions of the different parties and addressed many misconceptions. Hopefully the dialog can continue to lead to a short-term stabiliza- tion of the ship and a longer term disposition of Olympia in a suitable venue. Located nearby the Olympia is the SS United States. Dan McSweeney from the SS United States Conservancy address the gathering on Sat- urday morning about this ship. Conference attendees had the opportunity to visit an- other historic ship with a future that has yet to be determined. The Vane Bros tug Tucka- hoe took attendees to tour the NS Savannah. One preservation success story is the SS John W. Brown which carried attendees into the outer harbor on an opening night cruise/ reception.


Well over 400 individuals attended the conference that also tours to Fort McHenry, the Smithsonian, the Naval History and Heri- tage Command, the U.S. Naval Academy, and receptions at the Maryland Historical Soci- ety and aboard USS Constellation and USCG Barque Eagle. Sites for the 2013 gathering are under consideration.


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