Down East Boat Builders

Build a boat, cross a crate, parade your pride and joy: all at Windjammer Festival

This coming Labor Day weekend’s Windjammer Festival in Camden is more than beautiful boats, fireworks, entertainment, maritime heritage, and expertly flipped pancakes & perfectly stirred chowder. For those looking for interactive challenges, Camden's Public Landing and harbor plays host to a variety of activities to entertain and engage everyone.

On Saturday, September 3rd teams are invited to enter the Build-a-Boat contest which begins at 9am. The Build-a-Boat contest pits 12 teams in a race to build the most sea-worthy vessel out of materials supplied by EBS and Sikaflex. Building will take place on the Public Landing (although captains and crews can take their vessels home for 'cosmetic surgery' Saturday night) and the boats will be put through their paces with a race across the harbor at 2pm on Sunday. Entry forms and rules can be found by clicking http://www.camdenwindjammerfestival.com/download : enter soon as space is going fast!

Also on Saturday, kids and teens can enter the Festival crate race at 2pm, on the Public Landing. Test your speed and dexterity across slippery lobster crates in the inner harbor. Bring sensible shoes, a towel, and a big helping of luck! More information, rules, and forms can be found here: http://www.camdenwindjammerfestival.com/download .

On Sunday afternoon, boats of all shapes and sizes are invited to be part of the ad-hoc boat parade that gets under way at 4pm. Fill out a form and grab a parade number at either the Harbor Master's building or at Wayfarer Marine any time before or during the parade. Then meet up at Green Can #7 near Curtis Island by 4pm Sunday and prepare to be feted as you slowly circuit the harbor!

Throughout the weekend there will be plenty of chances to join the fun or learn new things: from model boat building to blacksmithing, from how to catch lobsters to cooking onboard; from traditional boatmaking skills to rowing a gig. For information on everything windjammer- fireworks, entertainment, pancakes and chowder, music, maritime heritage, and the schooner fleet- visit www.camdenwindjammerfestival.com

The full schedule of events can be found at www.camdenwindjammerfestival.com , but suffice to say the weekend offers something for everyone. From sailing aficionados and blueberry pancake and clam chowder enthusiasts to aspirant crate-racers and boat builders, the weekend is looking mighty ship-shape.

The Camden Windjammer Festival is sponsored by Down East Magazine, Maine Today Media, Wayfarer Marine, Camden Harbour Inn, The Penobscot Bay Regional Chamber of Commerce, Allen Insurance & Financial, Cellardoor Winery, the Hartstone Inn, and Point Lookout.

N.C. Transportation Museum Hosts “Workboats Of Core Sound ...

SPENCER – The N.C. Transportation Museum in Spencer opened a new offering this summer in the Wagons, Wheels Wings exhibit space, adding a bit of water to the wagons and wheels on display.

“Workboats of Core Sound” features the photography of Lawrence Earley, as he has documented the working lives of the fishermen and boat builders of Core Sound, on North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

“It’s refreshing to be able to highlight a mode of transportation that we are seldom able to present,” said Exhibits Coordinator Bob Hopkins. “And it gives the gallery an entirely new, crisp look, something new for our regular visitors to see.”

The hand-built, wooden workboats of Core Sound were once an essential component of the livelihood of Down East fishing communities. The creation of these fishing vessels, specifically engineered for the area’s shallow depths, has transcended a simple trade skill to become a folk art itself.

But many of those boats are now idle, with fewer in use and fewer still created each year.  New materials and the decline of the fishing industry are both to blame.  Lawrence Earley saw this decline, and in 2004, set about documenting this disappearing art.

“Workboats of Core Sound” features 50 black and white photographs with extended captions relating the stories behind the images.  Hopkins said, “The photography drew me to this exhibit. The images truly tell the story of this region’s disappearing maritime heritage.”  The exhibit also features the Leckler Lewis skiff, a full size Core Sound boat that roamed those waters through the 1970’s, on loan from the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center on Harker’s Island. The skiff is accompanied by models of two other Core Sound vessels, the “Capt. Jim” and the “Clarice,” both made by Jimmy Amspacher of Marshallberg.

“Workboats of Core Sound” documents not only the final product of these Down East boatbuilders, but also the methods by which these watercraft were created.  One of the most famous of these early twentieth century boatbuilders, Ambrose Fulcher, worked with just a saw, hammer, hatchet, and what boatbuilders call “the rack of the eye.”  Fulcher worked with no plans or drawings, making each boat a unique creation.

“This exhibit conveys how workboats are unique expressions of the region’s boatbuilders and traditions,” says Earley. “Each boat carries multiple stories about the people, history and culture of fishing communities in Down East North Carolina.

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