Page 8. MAINE COASTAL NEWS June 2016 K W T O N M
SOUTHWEST HARBOR – There are a number of names that are well-known in the boatbuilding industry in the State of Maine and one of these would be Newman. Jarvis began building boats at The Hinckley Company in the 1960s and learned fi berglass construction. He would leave there and open his own business building lobster boat style hulls and Friendship sloops. He sold that business in the late-1970s and turned his focus to selling boats. Recently he decided to retire and sold the business to his daughter Kathe Walton, who wants to carry on the business just like her father did. She said, “I have been working with
my father full-time for the last six years and part-time for last 30 years. I worked with him right out of high school. I would help him with typing until he hired a full-time assistant. When I didn’t live here he would send me down his scribbled out listings and I would type them and mail them back to him. Then he would photocopy them and mail them out.” With Jarvis fully retired, Kathe is now
in the offi ce every day, when she is not on the road getting a listing or showing a boat. She is also doing more advertising and up- dating the facility and the Boston Whaler she uses for the business. She is focusing on the Newman Boats as well as her special love, Friendship Sloops. She admits she does not know everything her father knew, especially when it comes to engines, but she is learning and what she does not know, she knows who to call to get the answer. Kathe’s grandfather is Raymond Bun-
ker of the famed Bunker & Ellis boats and so she has a love for these too.
Raymond Bunker was born September
9, 1906 on Great Cranberry Island. Kathe added, “I don’t know a lot about his child- hood. I do think he tried high school. He had enough of that and he came back to the island and went to work. I know he ended up working for Chester Clement, which is now Southwest Boat. He would drive people over to work at Southwest Boat and then he would wait for them to drive them back. Chester Clement just looked at him ‘well if you’re going to be here all day you might as well have something to do,’ so he started sweeping the fl oors or whatever. I guess he showed some interest in building and learned well from Mr. Clement. He just took off and he became the foremen. He stayed and worked there through the war. Then he and Ralph Ellis built their fi rst boat together in 1946, EVENING PASTIME. Over the years, they built just over 50 boats with the last boat going out in 1978. They built 36s, 38s, 42s and 44s and in the end they even fi nished off some fi berglass hulls.” Two years ago, she and her husband
purchased a 36-foot Bunker & Ellis. She explained, “My husband and I bought a Bunker & Ellis thinking it would be a project my father could chip away at and be content in his shop, but he didn’t enjoy it. I think it was too overwhelming. So we decided to go forward and just keep it as our project. This boat was built in 1972 in Manset by Ralph Ellis and Raymond Bunker. It was built for a man named Wilford Lloyd, a lobsterman from Vinalhaven. It was his second Bunker & Ellis. He had a boat built in 1956 named MOUSE, which is his nickname. This is the second MOUSE. Wilford Lloyd sold her to his son-in-law in 1990 so he fi shed her 18 years. Then his son-in-law fi shed her, I don’t
Naval Visits to MDI Continued from Page 5.
that when we went by Seal Harbor my par- ents would point out Nelson Rockefeller’s yacht and tell us there is Nelson Rockefel- ler’s PT boat,” said Jonathan. “The story was he had bought a PT boat at the end of the war and that was his yacht. Lo and be- hold what I found was it wasn’t a PT boat, but it was a naval vessel. The yacht’s name was DRAGON LADY and it was a harbor defense motor launch, which was an Admi- ralty designed ship about 70 feet in length. Looked very much like a PT boat, but didn’t have torpedoes and they were designed to patrol harbors and estuaries primarily around England. Nelson Rockefeller bought this boat, I believe for $10 after the war, and chopped off the stern and lengthened it by 10 feet and turned it into a yacht. Interestingly four of these, the same class of this boat were actually built at the Maine Boatyards Association boat yard in Ellsworth. There are photographs of them in the book actually building the boats.” Another major issue was trying to fi nd
photographs of all these vessels. “I received just an amazing outpouring of information and assistance from people from all over,” added Jonathan. “So many of the local residents were willing to share stories and photographs from their personal collections; those photographs are what make the book really special, because many of the other photographs are just stock Navy photos. These photos actually show the ships in Bar Harbor and it puts everything into per- spective. But at the same time many of the stories that were told were really interesting because I ended up sort of fi nding many of them had evolved over time and some of its because many of these people were probably young when they heard the stories and the
stories took a little bit of life of their own. They may have been embellished a little bit, but they all had a grain of truth.” There were several key fi gures that
helped Jonathan get the material he need- ed, especially photographs. He explained, “Raymond Strout and his two sons, are very avid collectors and they easily have the most extensive collection on the Island. His pho- tographic collection is just incredible. Bing Miller, who works for Dobbs Productions, was instrumental in sharing much of what he has accumulated through his research as well as fi xing up photographs that were in tough shape. Henry Brown shared his beau- tiful photograph of the SHENANDOAH in Bar Harbor, which also had LYNDONIA of in it. Just going down the list, I think there are about 120 or 130 sources. I’m just sorry that I couldn’t put more of the photographs into the book that I actually collected. I think that there is probably less than a quarter of what I collected in the book.” When asked what was next Jonathan replied, “Cleaning out my fi les.” When he was getting ready to go to the
printer I asked him if he would do another book and the reply came back without hes- itation, ‘NO.” After getting this book back from the printer and binder I asked again and he said, “I would like to do some historical research related to the Island.” So fortunate- ly the door is open for another book project. So it is back to his true love building
RC models, mostly of naval vessels, which are true exquisite. Over the years he has built four submarines, one being nine feet in length, USS JIMMY CARTER. He is fi nishing up a 7½ foot model of a World War II destroyer, which has been under construc- tion for three and a half years. He has also started building an ice breaker, which will be scratch built.
Kathe Walton, Jarvis Newman's daughter, has taken over Newman Marine Brokerage.
know for how long. She had six owners and they are all Vinalhaven fi shermen. When I bought her she was named GOOD E. NUFF. She was over in Vinalhaven and we had her towed over to Rockland and Journey’s End brought it up here.” MOUSE needed some work, and they
decided to take it to Richard Stanley. Kathe added, “All new ribs from the steering bulkhead aft, a new transom and he sistered all the fl are timbers. My husband refastened forward of the steering bulkhead to the stem. The sheer plank and got a lot of fresh water in it, so Richard recently came over and replaced that. Tom Gott, who searched the woods at all his jobsites, found a 16 inch clear cedar tree, which cut to a 14 inch board. It was amazing to watch Richard do that. Cut it and twist it. They are so good at it. Now she is going to sit probably for most of the summer. We bought a used engine, a Yanmar. Richard and my husband have al-
ready moved the engine beds back, because I didn’t want the engine in the cabin. Jarvis built two fi berglass models of Friendship sloops, which were real popular in the 1970s. The fi rst was the Pemaquid 25 followed by the 31 Dictator. Both were original wooden boats used for fi shing that were rebuilt so a mould could be taken off them.
Last summer Kathe bought a wooden
Friendship sloop, which had been built by Jim Rockefeller, Bald Mountain Boats in Camden. When she can get away from the offi ce, one can often fi nd her out sailing around the Island. Kathe is now focusing on fi nding more
listings and building the brokerage business back to what it was in its heyday. She has a true love for the boats her grandfather and father built, but also any other classic Maine boat. So if you are looking to buy or sell Newman Marine Brokerage is back!
Sail, Power & Steam Museum Continued from Page 7.
two stacks and walking beam still in place. Outside is a Hundostat engine, which we ran last year. It is a Danish engine that they built them from about 1915 up until the 1940s. It is a huge engine weighing 8,000 pounds and is about seven feet high. When she is running she blows the most beautiful smoke rings.” When you are done looking at all the
exhibits in the Museum you need to go down to the shop and see the Friendship sloop BLACK JACK, which is being restored
PMM Photos Continued from Page 6.
access,” said Matt. “There are quite a few museums that haven’t quite got on board with that yet. A lot of small museums lack the resources, and this stuff takes a lot of it. They don’t have the wherewithal to properly conserve originals and they don’t have a way to digitize the stuff at least with any kind of quality. Even if they were able to digitize they often don’t know what to do with the digital assets because once you create digital assets you’ve got a whole other set of objects to take care of.” The Penobscot Marine Museum is
extremely grateful to the following for their support: this project is made possible in part by the Institute of Museum a nd Library Ser- vices, and by The Windhover Foundation. This project has also been fi nanced (in part) with Federal funds from the National Mar- itime Heritage program, administered by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. However, the contents and opinions contained herein do not necessarily refl ect the views or policies of the Depart- ment of the Interior, nor does the mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation by the Department of the Interior.
by the Museum. She used to be owned by Bill Pendleton of Searsport, before he sold her to someone who sailed charters on her out of Northeast Harbor. She is undergoing a full restoration. They have replaced her backbone, stem and sternpost, fl oors and frames and are presently planking her up. This project has slowed as they need more funding to complete it. Presently they are sailing another
Friendship sloop, PERSISTENCE. Jim added, “She was started by Carleton Sim- mons, who was a postmaster in Friendship, and very well-known photographer. He laid the keel and set up the frames and started to plank it, maybe 20 percent completed, when he passed away. The boat sat for 45 years in a barn when it was fi nally donated to us and our volunteers completed it. Last year we had her in the water and sailed her. We are going to use her until BLACKJACK is fi nished, which may be two more years. Then we will sell PERSISTENCE and take on another one. “Well we have an awful lot of music,”
said Jim. “We have a Sunday jam here from 1:30 to 4. It has become an institution here in South Rockland. We also have other mar- itime programs going on too. We are going to have a parade of sail from the Friendship sloops on Friday the 22nd
of July. We are also
going to have a big lobster feed, a fundraiser for BLACKJACK. As for the future Jim would like to put
up a building to store some of the boats, but he added, “I don’t think I’m going to live long enough to do it.” For being in existence just seven years
Jim and his crew has done an excellent job collecting and displaying the items they have managed to obtain. If you are a lover of maritime history or just enjoy looking at an interesting collection of maritime artifacts and have not been to this Museum you need to.
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