Dana’s Boatshop on Maine’s Westport Island delivered the Wicked Wendy, an RP40, on Feb. 11. It went to a lobsterman in York, Maine, who had recently purchased the 2006-built boat.

“He had an RP before and loved it,” says the boatshop’s Dana Faulkingham, “but the boat he bought after that he didn’t like,” which explains the purchase of the 16-year old RP that had been a working lobster boat on Cape Cod.

Dana’s Boatshop installed a new hauler and new davit, but the primary task was installing rubber decking.

“There are a lot of pluses for the rubber deck,” Faulkingham says. “It’s very comfortable to walk on, cuts down on engine and hull noise, is very durable and easy to clean.”

Installing the half-inch rubber decking is time consuming. Before gluing the mat to the deck, all hatches have to be removed. When they’re reinstalled, they need to be adjusted to be the same height as the rubber.

Faulkingham doesn’t know the life span of rubber decking on a lobster boat, but he notes they installed it on a lobster boat three years ago that fishes trawls “and the deck looks just as nice today as the day we shipped it out.”

Once the Wicked Wendy left Dana’s Boatshop, a 37 H&H from Cape Cod that was built in 1997 took its place. The boat is in for some upgrades, including replacing the existing reel hauler with a bulkhead hauler.

Besides lobstering, the boat is used for charter fishing. Thus storage lockers will be built on the fo’c’sle’s starboard side. A general maintenance check will be done to the 375-hp John Deere.

In April, a new Wayne Beal 36 hull, top and engine will arrive to be finished off for a Kennebunk, Maine, lobsterman. But it won’t be finished until winter of 2023. That’s what the boat’s owner wanted and it works for both Dana and his son, Jason, who works with him, because they go lobster fishing in June and return to the shop in the fall.

“I change careers for a little while,” is how Faulkingham puts it.