Thursday, September 30, 2010

Boothbay Sailmaker Receives Award

Nathaniel S. Wilson, Boothbay Harbor Sail maker will receive the NMHS 2010 Distinguished Service Award from the National Maritime Historical Society. Nat will be honored for his thirty-five-year career as a sail maker and rigger, recognized as the pre-eminent sail maker of traditional sails in the country, if not the world. Some of the ships and yachts that Nat has made sails for have been built or refit here at Boothbay Harbor Shipyard such as: Alera, Valora, Harvey Gamage, Belle Aventure and Discovery.

The Society salutes his extensive record of helping to keep many of the historic and replica ships sailing, such as USS Constitution, USCG Eagle, Sultana, Clearwater, Spirit of Massachusetts, Pride of Baltimore II, American Eagle, Lettie G Howard, Mayflower II, Godspeed and Discovery. Nathaniel Wilson sails are sought after for vessels large and small, from performance and classic yachts to hearty working craft. The vessels that hoist his sails span the history of water navigation, from replicas of Viking ships to modern vessels, and are true-to-form in look, materials, construction, and performance. The Society also salutes Wilson’s support of sail training and maritime heritage educational programs. His reputation of generosity in sharing his craft and its history precedes him: be it for visiting ships, school groups, or middle and high school history teachers, or the impromptu demonstration for the interested visitor who comes by his loft. Click arrow on right side of the following booklet to turn pages.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Professionally Restored 1st Place Winner of Concours d'Elegance

Belle Aventure was the winner of the Professionally Restored 1st Place at the 19th Annual WoodenBoat Show. She was refastened and refit here at Boothbay Harbor Shipyard.

Belle Aventure, a 1929 Fife, designed and built by William Fife and Sons in Scotland, is owned by Mike McCue. Capt. George Moffett, who represented the owner, the Boothbay Harbor Shipyard shipwrights and staff are responsible for the high quality refastening and refit of this yacht.

At the 19th Annual WoodenBoat Show, the boats were divided into three categories: sail, power, and oar/paddle and judged for their quality of construction and restoration, quality and correctness of all on-board systems, and caliber of finish and appearance.

All boats exhibiting at the WoodenBoat Show; on land or in-water, were invited to participate in the Concours d’Elegance to compete for awards in a number of categories. The quality of this year’s entrants was among the best they had ever seen, which made the judges’ choices very difficult. All the winners can be viewed here and in the upcoming September/October 2010 Woodenboat Magazine.

Our own Capt. Dave is now on Belle Aventure and continues to varnish and keep the boat at its best.