Boats and boating

Roann

Island Dragger Roann Returns to the Sea

MYSTIC SEAPORT, Conn. — A 60-foot Eastern dragger named Roann, a living example of Vineyard maritime history, was relaunched under sunny skies here last Saturday.

The Roann is the last of an era. No one makes fishing boats like this anymore.

The restoration of the Roann cost $1.2 million, lasted three and a half years, and involved a team of 50 boat builders, aided by another 50 volunteers. Mystic Seaport Museum, the owner of the Roann, organized the restoration of the vessel at its on-site shipyard.

Jonathan Mayhew

Owner of Quitsa Strider in Menemsha Sells His Fishing Rights, Ending an Era

One of Menemsha’s most respected fishermen, Jonathan Mayhew, has quit fishing the high seas.

Mr. Mayhew recently sold his federal permits, giving up his license to ply the offshore waters of Georges Bank for cod, flounder and other fish.

A Vineyard native who grew up in a family of generations of fishermen, Mr. Mayhew, 56, said a chapter has closed in his life. He said he worries now for the future of young local fishermen facing current fishing rules.

The changes that have come down are killing the fisherman and not necessarily saving fish, he said.

Charlotte touchdown

Boat Builder Launches His Dream

After 27 years of building the wooden boats of other men's dreams, Nathaniel Benjamin, 60, built a boat for himself.

They christened her Charlotte under parted skies on Saturday afternoon. Hundreds of onlookers spilled onto the beach, down to the end of the dock and up to a rooftop of the boat yard. The potluck was plentiful and the beer flowed from a rowboat packed with ice. Boat launchings mean big parties at Gannon & Benjamin and this was no exception.

Saturday Fire Destroys Sailboat in Harbor; Two Towns Respond

Vineyard Haven harbor was lit up on Saturday evening by a fully
involved boat fire. Tisbury firemen and harbor masters from two towns
responded to a blaze aboard a 30-foot Catalina sailboat called Tippy
Canoe, owned by Tyler Weggel of Port Washington, N.Y.

There were no injuries. The vessel, a total loss, now lies partially
submerged, a black shell, in shallow water at the foot of Grove street.

A Sense of Contentment, Pride When Mabel Becomes Riverboat

CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - The Mabel made it.

They pulled away from the Coastwise Packet Wharf in Vineyard Haven on Friday, June 13, their oars waggling a bit uncertainly in the air and in the water. Seven days later - late on Friday afternoon - they put the bow of their boat on the shore of a cove some 30 miles north of Manhattan and dropped themselves a bit unsteadily onto hard sand shaded by weeping willows at a park on the Hudson River.

Vineyard Harbors Report Active Summer; Weather Bolsters Boating Business

Manning the front lines of the Island economy, Vineyard harbor
masters often see business trends before merchants do. As summer draws
to an end, four of the five Island harbor masters told the Gazette that
a season typically busy in some regards was even busier than normal in
others.

Waterfront in Tisbury Bustles with Business Life

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.

The Fleet Comes In: New York Yacht Club Arrives Today at Edgartown

Boat watchers, prepare yourselves! The New York Yacht Club’s annual cruise will arrive in Edgartown today. The yearly progress, which touches at several southeastern New England ports, has been an eye-catching summer spectacle for at least 116 years. This year’s fleet includes 106 sailboats and a collection of more than 60 power craft.
 

From the Wheelhouse Loafer Come Some Seagoing Silhouettes

It is inherent in the human soul to be thrilled by the sight of wind-hardend canvas, even if it is only a picture. There are tales and traditions of men who have been highly successful master mariners, yet who were born and spent boyhood and youth far, far from salt water or even lakes where boats might have been seen, but who had studied a picture from early childhood of a ship in a seaway and carrying sail.

Hulls and Rigs Were Different in New York Cruises Long Ago

The coming of the New York Yacht Club cruising fleet stirs never-to-be-forgotten memories. It is bewildering to realize how many persons cannot recall this scene, not having been born at the time, and thus cannot without difficulty follow a description by one whose emotions were deeply stirred by the sight sixty-five years ago.
 
The fleet did not always rendezvous at Vineyard Haven, yet that harbor was favored and the club’s own shore base was erected on the Eastville shore maintained by a club steward who was a year-round resident of Oak Bluffs.
 

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