The Maine Lobster Boat: History of an Iconic Fishing Vessel [Hardcover]

The modern lobster boat has evolved slowly over decades to become the craft it is today: seaworthy, strong, fast, and trusted implicitly by the lobstermen and women to get the job done and get them home, each and every time, through the most terrifying--and sometimes life-threatening--conditions that the sea can dish up. “Where do lobster boats come from?” “What is the origin of their design?” “Who builds them?” “How do they work?” The story of the Maine lobster boat needs to be told--before the storied history of this iconic American craft slips away forever into the past, on the heels of what may be the last surviving traditional lobster boat builders.

Filled with colorful characters, old maritime tales, and fascinating details, this a definitive look at the origins and lore of Maine's most ubiquitous vessel.Daniel Sheldon Lee is a historian and author ofBuzzards Bay: A Journey of Discovery. He lives in Hingham, Massachusetts.Acknowledgments

Author’s Note: A Few Words on “Downeast”

Foreword: The Evolution of the Maine Lobster Boat

Preface: The Wooden Boat as a Living Creature

Introduction: The Smell of Cedar

Peter Kass

Will Frost

Bert Frost

Harold Gower

Doug Dodge

The Lowells

Riley Beal and Clinton Beal

Richard Alley and Clifford Alley

Willis Beal

Osmond Beal and Isaac Beal

Calvin Beal, Jr.

Ernest Libby, Jr.

Bunker, Ellis, and Newman

The Riches

The Stanleys

Glenn Holland

The Fastest Lobster Boat Race in the World

Bibliography

About the Author