Page 6. MAINE COASTAL NEWS September 2012 Bamforth Marine of Brunswick
BRUNSWICK – One of the most interesting parts of traveling the coast is seeing what projects some businesses or people are working on. Bamforth Marine in Brunswick is a well-known boat and outboard dealer operated by Gary and Scott Favreau. Of course they also do repairs on these, but last winter Gary went a little beyond their usual and rebuilt a Pulsifer Hampton.
The Pulsifer Hampton is a wooden outboard boat, which are built by Richard Pulsifer of Brunswick. Gary added, “This is a boat that we had for sale last summer and it didn’t sell. A few people looked at it and thought it needed too much work so I made an offer and the owner accepted it. I started ripping the boat apart and found a lot of timber rot. I had to cut into the timbers and get the rot out the best I could and then glue in new pieces of oak.”
Gary also found issues with the plat- form, which had to be completely replaced. He did some work up on the bow where some of the planks were gone. This he cut out and replaced with new pieces of wood. The transom was solid, but he stripped off the varnish and put on a number of coats of varnish. The engine is a 1991 Yanmar diesel and ran without any problems. However, he
did remove some of the external parts, such as hoses, belts and pulleys. He also redid the engine box.
When all was said and done, he had spent about 12 weeks on the project. She went over in May and enjoyed her all sum- mer running around Casco Bay. Over the years Gary has owned a num- ber of boats. One type he enjoyed was the Corson. He said, “I have had some smaller Corson boats, 15, 16 and 19. It was a decent little boat for lake running. The 16½ and 20 footer were okay in the ocean. The 15 was kind of what we would call a clammer’s boat, because they are fairly light weight boats and if they get on the mud fl ats with them they could usually push them off and get back in the water. The 14 and 15 were great little lake boats. If you didn’t want to spend a lot of money for a boat Corson was a decent little boat. We sold them for years. Then I had a lot of used boats. I have had wooden ones that I sold after I got them all fi xed up. For sailboats, I had an old 14-foot Town Class that I restored. Sailed that for three or four years with my wife and kids. Someone saw it in the yard one day and they wanted to buy it so I sold it to them. I had a 24-foot Sea Ray. When I got it all it had in it was an engine and it barely ran and the transom was gone. So I did the transom on it. Then one thing led to another." Bamforth Marine was started by Gary
and Scott’s grandfather Coral Bamforth back in 1924. Coral had been working in the Douglas lumber yard when he accidentally lost his hand in the early 1920s. At the time he was 23 years old, a young family with four children and no job. Unlike today you just did not run to the government and get a handout. He fi gured out what he needed
The Hampton Pulsifer that was rebuilt by Gary Favreau of Bamforth Marine.
to do and that was head to Boston and get some training on how to work on electrical systems. He returned and opened Bam- forth’s Auto Electric Service, which not only serviced batteries, but also rebuilt starters, generators and sold automotive parts. Gary added, “He used to buy these battery boxes, put the lead plates in them, put the posts on, fi ll it and tar it over. He would take these around and deliver them to customers. He also did engine and transmission work.” Tragedy struck when Coral’s son, who was a top-turret gunner in a B-17 bomber was shot down over France during World War II.
Fernand “Fern” Favreau married Cor-
al’s daughter Elinor and Fern went to work for Coral just after World War II. In 1949 they expanded the business to sell small boats and outboards. Gary added, “The fi rst motor that we sold is out front in the window. The guy that had bought it actually brought it back and said here I would like for you to have this. That was really nice.” They sold Corsons and Kenway boats
for a number of years. Kenway is now known as Maritime Marine in Augusta and today they sell the Maritime Skiff, South- port, and Bristol line of boats. This year they agreed to sell the Bristol line to go along with the Maritime Skiffs.
Coral retired almost 30 years ago and Fern took over running the operation. Gary explained, “Wally Adams was my uncle. He worked on the counter and my father worked in the shop. They also used to run a wrecker. If cars or trucks broke down they’d go get them. He said he saw some horrifi c acci- dents, some he wished he had never seen.” About 12 years ago, Gary and Scott took over the business from their father. They phased out the automotive division and con- centrated on the boat lines and outboards. They became a Maritime Skiff dealer in 1992; an Echo Open Water Rowing Shell dealer in 2004; and a Suzuki outboard dealer in 2005. They have certainly carried on the legacy of knowing what their customers want and the good service. This is evident as the company continues to grow.
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