History
The Carpenter’s Boat Shop began in 1979, when Robert (Bobby) and Ruth Ives purchased a farm on the Old County Road in Pemaquid. Built in 1849, the farm had originally been used for dairy farming until the 1950’s, when it was converted into a chicken farm. When the Ives’ purchased that farm in 1979, a great deal of renovation was needed in order to turn it into a boat-building facility. But, from the very beginning, our neighbors reached out with support, greeting the Ives’ with a traditional “pounding party.” Where typically community members brought “pounds” of butter, salt and sugar as house-warming gifts, our neighbors brought nails and table saws to help transform a chicken barn into a working boat shop.
Bobby’s mentor, Edvard Salor, a retired Norwegian boat builder, gave his time, teaching, and love. For the next seven summers Edith and Edvard Salor stayed at the Boat Shop while Edvard helped in the shop. The Salors shared their wisdom and kindness, becoming loving “grandparents” to many of the early Boat Shop apprentices.
With bedrooms filled with apprentices and the Ives’ children sleeping in a closet and hallway, the time came for a dormitory to be built that would house the Boat Shop apprentices. In the fall of 1981, the Boat Shop crew set about building that dormitory onto the side of the farmhouse. It took them three months to complete the project, producing an addition of five bedrooms and two bathrooms.
In 1984, a house from nearby New Harbor was given to the Boat Shop. It was moved from its location on the harbor to its current location immediately adjacent to the old Boat Shop. For over twenty years it served as a workshop, restoration shop, and painting area.
In 1990, the Boat Shop began constructing a “Barn Chapel” to serve as a storage area for drying lumber, a meeting house for weekly Chapel gatherings and public functions, and an additional guest room upstairs. Designed by instructor Jim Austin, the building of the Barn-Chapel became the extraordinary effort of the Boat Shop apprentices, church youth groups, and a myriad of guests, further enhancing our community life.
In 1991, the Boat Shop built a temporary structure over a 32-foot Crocker cutter that apprentices were restoring. When the cutter was completed, the shelter was winterized and converted into a more permanent facility. From its inauspicious beginning as temporary cover, the structure became an essential part of our campus: our Restoration Shop, where we carry out repair and renovation of innumerable boats and projects.
In the year 2000, a quantum leap occurred in the life of the Boat Shop. Our neighbors across the street, Bobby and Polly Crook, offered to sell the Boat Shop their farm. It was 150 acres of land, including a 19th century farmhouse, large barn, and stable. With the assistance of local land trusts and innumerable donors, the Boat Shop acquired 10 acres, while 140 acres of that original “Crooked Farm” land have been permanently preserved for public use, including 1.5 miles of walking trails along the Pemaquid River.
