March 2012 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 19. Lobster Race Pre-Season Continued from Page 8,


Festival, 9 September; and Awards Banquet 27 October.


It was mentioned by several members that they do not want to add any more points races. Currently there are nine points races: Boothbay; Rockland; Moosebec; Searsport; Stonington; Friendship; Harpswell; Winter Harbor; and Portland. The only non-points race listed on MLBRA’s schedule was the Merritt Brackett Races at Pemaquid. It was decided that this year we should also list Bass Harbor and Eastport on the MLBRA sched- ule and poster.


There has been some talk about another race in Southern Maine, but there has been no further communication during the winter on this.


As for the reality television proposals, the deal with Aura360 will come to an end in May. We have not heard anything from them for almost a year and it seems that they have not been successful in putting a deal to- gether. The last mention was that they had pitched it to the cooking and outdoor net- works and were waiting for a response. An- other offer has come from a person located in Los Angeles, but lives in North Yarmouth. He had a film crew at the Portland races, but again there has been no contact with him over the winter. It was thought that in the future any deal would not be longer than a year, which was agreed to by the membership. The next item discussed was whether there was any need to have a meeting at the Forum in March. A brief discussion ensued, and the result was to have a room for about


Giffy Full on Boatbuilders Continued from Page 6.


the contract down. I came home one day and my wife said the president of the bank wants to see you. I said okay, it was early in the day, so I went down to the bank to see him. He said, “Giffy I have got a problem with this boat that Joe Walker wants to have built. Would you look at this? He passed me the back of an envelope. On it was written, “I will build one 32 foot Beals Island model lobster boat, framed in oak, planked with cedar, all bronze fastened, painted, with a six cylinder Palmer marine engine and hoister delivered ready to go for $6800 and it was signed Harold Gower.” Randy, the president of the bank, said what you think of that Giffy? I said look at the signature on the bottom, Harold Gower. That envelope and that signature is worth as much as a 20 page contract. The only reason Joe Walker won’t get his boat is because he died while he was building it. Randy looked at me and said that’s good enough for me and he got his boat. The funny part about it, like all these stories that get stretched out, Joe was a lobster fishermen, and he didn’t have a clue about navigating the coast. He could haul pots out around Marblehead and that is it. He probably never had been to Gloucester in a boat. So my brother Jim was home off of his ship and Joe talked him into going up to Jonesport and getting the boat and bringing her home. They got up there, and when they arrived the boat was down on the beach on a cradle waiting for the tide to come in. The cradle was rocked down waiting for the boat to float off. When Joe Walker went down and saw his new boat, he sat down and cried, because the boat was so beautiful and it was. “I had some funny other things hap- pened up there,” said Giffy. “One time I was up there in my own boat with my wife, and my brother and his wife, in the little Caribou that I owned. We were up to Rogue Island an- chored and of course I had been ashore and dug a few clams. There was a clammer there from Jonesport and his outboard had broken down. Nothing he could do to get that boat going and it was suppertime. I went over and told him I’m going to come and give you tow home. He said I don’t want you to do that. I said listen I can eat anytime, don’t worry about it. Don’t argue with me because it’s too late. I went and pulled in the anchors, put a line on him and towed him. I was almost into Jonesport when a boat came out looking for him. They picked him up and took him the rest of the way. He came over and found me the next day and said you don’t ever have to go clamming. You come over to my place and I have got a shed down near the wharf and you can get all the clams you want.” Another time Giffy was on cruise. He had laid up in Bucks Harbor and enjoy the day. He added, “The next morning we took off, we got


almost down, within a couple of miles from Eagle Island, and I could see this sailboat in under the island. He appeared to be anchored there, but that’s a funny place for somebody to anchor. It didn’t look right. So I headed over towards them because they were going across towards Bradbury Island, but very slowly. I said to my friend I think he is tangled up in lobster gear. I get down there, and there was a person in the water. Here was a guy standing up on the stern with a line and he has got a winter coat on. It was summertime. The person that was in the water had a long pigtail, it was his wife. She is in the water diving under the boat cleaning the wheel out. I said look I am going to stand by here until you are squared away. I said to myself what the hell kind of guy is this that lets his wife go over- board to do that.”


Another interesting story Giffy told was about a grounding off Castine. “A nice boat, a Bunker & Ellis called CYNTHIA owned by a lady over in Castine, was taken by her nephew and some of his buddies. The boat was just overboard for the season and not outfitted. No radio, no lifejackets, no nothing was aboard of her. They took the boat down to Eaton’s lobster place on Little Deer Isle. After dark they started back and never showed up back at Castine. Somehow some- body knew they had gone off with the boat and told this young man’s father. They were running the boat apparently at full throttle and drove her up on Spectacle Island. She went came completely out of water. Her rud- der was 10 feet from the water. Fortunately they hit a smooth part of the island and she just shot right up onto the island and fell over. They did quite a bit of damage to her. Broke her keel, tore two or three floor timbers up forward loose, cracked all the new paint on her topsides, and damaged the cabin on the port side. The father calls me up in an uproar, come up and look at the boat. I looked at it and when they got her off this boat was going to have to have a lot of repairs. Well he said my sister-in-law is going to be coming in three weeks you better find somebody to take that boat and get it repaired right away. I said I don’t know if that is possible. So I came down and talked to Doug Hyland, and Doug said I am just finishing a boat and I don’t know what I am going to do with the guys. The next day we had her on a truck, brought down to Doug’s and he had her done in about three weeks.”


For those that have had the pleasure of meeting Giffy know he has plenty of stories. One can spend hours and hours listening to one after the other. His career has spanned well over 60 years. He knows about boat yards, boat builders, yachting, commercial fishing and the people involved. Yes they are interesting but more importantly they docu- ment maritime history for future generations.


half an hour to hand out posters and sign up members for the upcoming year. There might be a brief meeting or discussion, but no changes can be made until the annual meet- ing in October.


The last item on the agenda was about creating a Maine Lobster Boat Racing Hall of Fame. This had been discussed over the summer and everyone agreed that this would be a great idea. It was asked for volunteers to create a list of the people most deserving. It was also thought that we needed to ask each museum and any other appropriate place if they would be interested in housing an ex- hibit on those honoured. Those volunteering for the committee were: Sari Bunker, Brent Davis, Bruce Engert, Jon Johansen, Wayne Rich, and Nick Wiberg. This group met at McLeod’s Restaurant in Bucksport on 15 February. They first discussed some criteria. How many should be put in and what should the time frame be? They all agreed to 10 the first year and five the second and third years. After that it was felt that one or two a year, but only if warranted. The only other criteria was that they should not be a current racer. With this in mind they began whittling the list down to ten, which was not to difficult. So if you think you know lobster boat racing, its history and the people who made it what it is try guessing who made the first list. The 10 inductees will be announced at the lobster boat race meeting at the Maine Fishermen’s Forum and if you think someone was over- looked let them know!


On a sad note Jerry Farrin, who orga- nized the Merritt Brackett Lobster Boat Races for years passed away just after Christmas. Jerry was a great guy, enjoyable to deal with and ran some of the best races on the coast. For those who stay in the loop over the


winter you know that two in our racing family have been diagnosed with cancer. A Cam- paign Kick-Off Banquet was held at DiMillo’s On The Water on February 10 for one of these people, which raised over $10,000. If you haven’t heard already, Steve Johnson’s wife, Lynn, has been diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. Her fight against the disease began before the Holidays with aggressive chemo treatments and constant hospital, lab and doctor visits. Like so many of us, Steven and Lynn had no health insur- ance at the time of diagnosis.


The good news? Lynn is responding well to treatment. She attended the Kick-Off banquet and is feeling healthy and strong. And, she is grateful for all the love and generosity that was shown at that event. There’s a long and difficult road ahead - more chemo and radiation - but first medical reports indicate she’s going to be able to beat this thing. The other good news? Friends of Lynn’s have been able to identify a health insurance policy that covers Lynn’s pre- existing condition. Although premiums and deductibles are high, the policy will get the Johnson’s the care they need.


The greatest news of all? Steve and Lynn have hundreds of friends. There is a call for support - hoping that you are able to make a contribution to this important campaign. They have set a goal of $100,000 which will be administered through The Changing Tide Foundation. They believe that if they are successful in reaching their goal they will have covered hospital and doctor’s bills, relieved their stress, and put them both in a position where they may concentrate on get- ting well.


With the season just four months away this is shaping up to be a big year.


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