The Gannon and Benjamin boatyard on the Vineyard Haven harbor was the scene of a festive launch Monday for a new design created by the venerable wooden boat yard. The Sheldrake is a gaff sloop daysailer and Nat Benjamin’s 85th original design.
Gannon and Benjamin Marine Railway
2015
2014
April 21, 2014
Nat Benjamin’s Juno and Ross Gannon’s Eleda placed first in their class at the Caribbean regatta held over the weekend. Races concluded Monday. Eleda also won the Arne Frisell Prize for greatest attention to structural integrity and safety.
2012
February 2, 2012
When Nat and Pam Benjamin and their two-year-old daughter Jessica sailed into Vineyard Haven Harbor in 1972, Nat wondered aloud to his family, “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a boatyard to fix up some of the wrecks around here and maybe build some new boats?”
January 26, 2012
Gannon and Benjamin Marine Railway, a well-known boatbuilding operation on Beach Road in Vineyard Haven, has a new partner. Ross Gannon and Nat Benjamin have been running the boatyard since 1980 and together have built 50 wooden boats and a far-ranging reputation in preserving the heritage of wooden boat building.
Now, Brad Abbott, who has worked day to day in the shop for nearly two years, has joined with the two in running the business.
2010
July 22, 2010
The year was 1978, and Martha’s Vineyard confronted a big decision about its character. It could take a big step toward becoming part of generic America or fight to maintain its individuality.
A property had come up for sale on Vineyard Haven harbor, and the multi-national purveyor of junk food, McDonald’s, was lined up to build its 5,110th restaurant on it.
2008
January 17, 2008
Winter is the ideal season when wood shavings fly, drills and sanders sing and Vineyard boat builders assemble and repair boats.
At one of the Island’s smallest boat shops, Rick Brown of Far Cry Boats in Vineyard Haven is working on two. Space is a premium inside his 15 by 36-foot workshop with limited heat. His fragrant shop is at Maciel Marine, next door to John Thayer’s cabinet shop, and has one of the best views of Lagoon Pond. The air smells of fresh-cut oak.
