The 62nd annual Boothbay Harbor Windjammer Days will take place on Sunday, June 23 through Saturday, June 29. This year we will celebrate our local boatbuilders and shipwrights. Please visit boothbayharborwindjammerdays.org for the full schedule of events.

Over one hundred vessels have slid down the ways into Linekin Bay out of Paul E. Luke, Inc. boat yard: lobster boats, power cruisers, sailboats (race and cruising) both wood and aluminum.  

There is only one boatbuilder in this boatyard. Make no mistake whose yard it was, and who was boss. He was Paul Luke. Others worked here and moved on to become boat builders in their own yard: John Luke, Jim Jones, Matt Sledge, and others moved on and became successful builders in their own yard, but they passed through here. 

In the early days, I was happy to come down to the yard, as it was full of friends and had a lot of energy in the air. There was always a lot going on … Never long after I arrived, either a broom or a shovel was pushed in my direction. I always knew where I wanted to work, the question was, “Where will I fit in?” As I grew a little taller, I could hold the butt end of plank while Earle Dodge sawed the bevels on the bandsaw and Wayne Moore adjusted the tilt on the table. Vince and Leon Tibbetts were the port side plankers (fitters and fasteners). Stanley Mitchell and my brother, John, were on the starboard side. Billy Latter was in charge of getting and fitting oak butt blocks on the inside. 

Securing enough of the right materials along with supervision for this gang, in addition to getting the next job and finishing this job to a standard was more than a full-time job for Paul. 

We built boats for all the major yacht designers at the time: Auge Neilsen, Sparkman and Stephens, John Alden, McCurdy and Rhodes, M. Rosenblatt and Son, and others. 

As time and fads moved on, the boats changed and so did the yard. Sails changed and more pressure was put on the hulls, so metal was added to the mix and thus the need for a machine shop. My brother John headed that up along with able help from Skip Rideout, Jim Jones, Steve Alley, and others. Earle Leavitt and even Sean Rowley – yes, that Sean Rowley, fabricated aluminum masts and booms. Lin Smith was a constant around the aluminum boats, bending frames and hull plating, making tanks or plumbing. Jack Hartford was in charge of electrical. With aluminum boats, the electrical systems were always a challenge. The hull was never a part of the circuitry, two wire floating and no ground – nice. 

I am not a boatbuilder, I am a boatyard worker. This yard does storage and repairs. Keith Royall is chief motivator with very able help from Audley Smith. You can find my son Andrew running the office with my wife Nora handling the books and keeping an eye on everything. I am happy to run to Grover’s as frequently as necessary. 

Come see us. We have very well equipped, smart, able, and good-looking crew.