January 2018 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 7. D D D B B .
JONESPORT – One of the pre-eminent boatbuilding locations on the coast of Maine has to be Beals Island and Jonesport. Trying to capture as much of this history as possible is a challenge, but fortunately many of those that built boats there know the history and want to see it saved for future generations. At one time there were more than 15
boatbuilders on Beals alone, but today there is just a couple. One that is still building is Doug Dodge, who said he came to the Island in a rainstorm in April 1950. He added, “I came in April and was fi ve in August. I re- member coming across East Machias, it was fl ooded so they had to put planks down so the car could go over. I would like to have that car today, because it was a '48 Studebaker.” Doug moved in with his aunt and uncle,
Nella, and noted boatbuilder, Harold Gower. Doug began mentioning the builders on Beals and over in Jonesport he remembered: Cliff ord Alley, Richard Alley, Alvin Beal; Calvin Beal, Jr., Clinton Beal, Isaac Beal, Mariner “Lovie” Beal, Milt Beal, Riley Beal, Vinal Beal, Wayne Beal, Willis Beal, George Brown, Fillmore Crowley, Freddy Lenfesty, and Ernest Libby Jr. Isaac was Mariner’s son, who built together and Al- vin and his son Edward built together until Edward died. Adrian Beal and Elihu Beal were helping their father Riley Beal who was building sardine carriers on Perio’s Point when Doug was a kid. He added, “They built the lobster smack ARTHUR S. WOODWARD, I came the year after she was launched.” Lester Beal, which is Adrian son, and
Benny Beal built a couple of boats. All of Ernest Libby, Jr.’s sons helped in his shop on Beals. When Ernest passed away his sons continued for a while, but then sold their moulds (34 and 38) to S. W. Boatworks, who
in turn sold them to East Side Boat Shop in Machiasport. The sons, last year sold East Side Boat Shop the mould for the 41. Calvin Jr.’s son, Calvin S., helped him
in the shop, and Doug’s son, Doug, Jr., has helped in the past. Wayne Beal, who is Cal- vin Jr.’s brother, is also assisted by his son Jeremy, in their shop in Jonesport. “Milt Beal, people don’t mention him,”
said Doug. “He built down near the old high school, down over the bank there. He had a building he built boats in. The skiff out here was the skiff that he built 65 years ago. He built some powerboats and lobster boats too.”
“In ‘58, Bert Frost showed up,” contin-
ued Dodge. “He came from South Portland, but he had been working in Rhode Island building draggers before that. His father, which is my great grandfather, Will Frost, started a new shop in South Portland. Bert wanted to do fi berglass and Grampy Frost said, ‘You don’t build a boat with paint rollers and glue.’ He took all of his models, sawed them up and threw them in the stove and walked out the door. Bert didn’t really own the place, it belonged to Dave Scull and they call it the Frost Shipyard. Uncle Bert tried to do too much at one time. He was trying to keep the crew going 24 hours and taking on bigger orders and it got to be too much for him. He was making inboard outboards, 22 footers, and a lot of expensive cabin cruisers. The last boat, was the schoo- ner and that was a beautiful job. I am not a sailboat builder, but just to watch him. The bottom of her from the waterline down was planked with oak and the top was planked with mahogany. He was very talented, but like most boatbuilders he wasn’t a business- man. All of that work for nothing sometimes. He died before that boat was done. Bert died
Adventures and History from Downeast Maine By Arthur S. Woodward, Beals Island
Lobster Smacks, Lobsters, Lobster Boats, Beals “Lobster Island”
Adventures and History from Downeast Maine...
Great Stories About: Lobster Smacks Old Jonesporters Early Lobster Boat Racing A Truck Driver's Recollection Towing the Beals Bridge Views from the Pilothouse Buying Lobsters and Coastal Sea Stories And much, much more.
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young, he had cancer. I used to go visit him you see when he was bedridden. Actually he wanted me to fi nish that sailboat off . I said I didn’t know anything about sailboats. He said, ‘you can do it.’ ‘No, I don’t want to,’ I said. ‘Number one, they are too slow and number two, they don’t make enough noise.’ Someone bought it and took it to Southwest and he died. It went to auction and then the Emery boys bought it.” “Floyd Beal, there’s another boatbuild-
er,” said Doug, “he worked with Uncle Harold, like 18 years. He was also a brother to Alvin Beal. All those Beal boys were boatbuilders except for one. It is like the Frosts, all those boys were boatbuilders except for one, which was Merrill, he was a farmer. In my time there was Willis Beal, and Calvin Beal. Osmond built with his fa- ther Vinal Beal and the fi rst boats they built were outdoors behind the house between rain and snowstorms. In ‘62, Uncle Harold had a duodenal ulcer and lost the lower part of his stomach. He had a boat, the cabin and the pilothouse was on, so Vinal and Osmond came over to fi nish it off . Of course Avery Kelley and I aggravated them quite bad with
Harold Gower
big fi recrackers. Vinal went up to my aunt and said, ‘If you don’t get that G…D… son of a b… out of there were not coming back.’ Avery and I weren’t allowed in the shop until they got the boat done. Uncle Harold got healed up and then he started building boats again in ‘63.’ “Uncle Harold built his fi rst boats on
what is called Mouse Island,’ added Doug. “It was a small building, he built peapods and rowboats in it. They fl oated the shop over where my shop is today and then as he
Continnued on Page 27.
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