Farrin’s Boatshop in Walpole, Maine, recently rebuilt two older Maine lobster boats. One was the Trudy Lee, a 34-foot Calvin that Farrin’s Boatshop built 14 years ago for a lobsterman in South Bristol. The other was the Robin Lyn, a 36-foot H&H out of Boothbay.
The Trudy Lee came in with a 375-hp John Deere that Farrin’s Boatshop pulled out and replaced with a 500-hp Cummins 8.3. All the hydraulics were gone over, the wiring was updated, new windows put in the wheelhouse, some decking was replaced near the lazarette, and a 30-inch trap rack went on the transom.
Overall, the Trudy Lee “was in good shape, mostly,” says Farrin’s Boatshop’s Bruce Farrin. Though after 14 years there was UV damage, so the hull was gel-coated and painted. The boat’s owner was originally thinking about having a new boat built. “But the way times are,” says Farrin, “he decided to fix the old one up and have better resale value when things straighten out.”
The 36-foot Robin Lyn was also repowered with a new Cummins; only this was a 450-hp, 9-liter engine that replaced a 400-hp Cummins. The marine gear was rebuilt at Billings Diesel in Stonington, while Farrin’s Boatshop replaced the shaft and prop, upgraded the hydraulics, and rebuilt the below-deck lobster tanks, as well as much of the cockpit deck. The hull and house were repainted.
Both the Trudy Lee and the Robin Lyn left in mid-July.
Farrin’s Boatshop started building a boat at the end of August that Maine fishermen might encounter now and then. It’s a marine patrol boat for the Maine Department of Marine Resources. Based on a 42 Calvin hull, the patrol boat is a replacement for the 35-foot Monitor that caught fire on Feb. 24 while at the Department of Marine Resources’ dock in Boothbay Harbor. At the time it was reported that the fire seemed to have been caused by an electrical failure.
An 800-hp MAN will power the boat. For marine patrol work, there will be a 17-inch hydraulic pot hauler and a winch to pull a 14-foot inflatable boat on deck through the open transom.
Accommodations will be for four officers. Farrin expects the patrol boat to be completed in late spring or early summer. However, and this might affect more than just the Maine Marine Patrol.
“We may have to make some substitutions down the road” for marine hardware, Farrin says. A lot of people are still on unemployment, thus marine hardware companies may not have the staff to manufacture requested equipment.
Sargents Custom Boats in Milbridge, Maine, began finishing off a Canadian hull for a Vinalhaven, Maine, lobsterman at the end of August. It’s a 45 Dixon out of Lower Woods Harbor, Nova Scotia. It’s the second Dixon hull Sargents will have completed.
Sargents is adding its own custom split wheelhouse to the Dixon hull. It won’t be pushed as far forward as the standard Dixon house and will “look more like a Downeast-style house,” says Sargents Custom Boats’ Joe Sargent. Back aft will be an open transom with a 4-foot aluminum extension.
Before the 800-hp MAN was lowered into the hull, stringers for the engine had to be set in place “because these Dixons don’t come with the same kind of hull stringers we do,” Sargent says. “They just have some stiffeners in the hull.” Below deck will be storage for 40 crates of lobsters and 600 gallons of fuel.
Sargents Custom Boats recently bought the 23-foot Crowley-Beal mold and already has had “tons of inquiries” for boats to be built from it. It’s a Calvin Beal design that originally went to Donny Crowley and Jimmy Beal at Beals Boatshop in Milbridge. Being an older mold, it came with some spider cracks. That’s why, Sargent says, “we are redoing the whole mold,” including total Awlgripping. “We just wanted it to be high-end.” One advantage of boats coming out of the mold is the 8-foot 6-inch beam “is the widest you can legally tow over the road,” Sargent says.
