On the Vineyard Haven waterfront you can see, smell and hear the bustle of activity. The town's boatyards are all party to boat building and launching. Anyone who walks the shores of the town will discover a wide variety of vessels undergoing extensive work. It was a busy winter and there is evidence everywhere.
Maciel Marine, Martha's Vineyard Shipyard and Gannon and Benjamin boatyards are witness to a resurgence in interest in Island built and restored vessels.
Gannon and Benjamin Marine Railway opened its doors Saturday for some shop talk, giving experienced boatbuilders and curious neighbors a glimpse of the historic boatyard.
From Owen Park to the Lagoon Pond drawbridge, decades old, family-run businesses pepper the Vineyard Haven waterfront. The architecture is haphazard, but that is perhaps Vineyard Haven’s charm — plus it’s rare for any town today to look much the same as it did 50 years ago.
A new boat-building enterprise with a strong educational component
has been launched in the concrete building at Five Corners in Vineyard
Haven.
On Tuesday, Myles Thurlow of West Tisbury was inside lofting the
first of two new 32-foot rowing boats. With volunteer labor and
contributions from the community, they'll be in the water by the
end of the summer.