Composite boat construction is gaining popularity in Maine, according to a local boat builder. Oceanville Boatworks of Stonington is finishing off a 48’ x 18’ Mussel Ridge hull and top for Boothbay lobsterman Nick Page. Both the hull and molded top are from Hutchinson Composite in Cushing, Maine. At the end of September, the boat was about halfway finished.
“It’s all-composite construction, all throughout the boat,” said Dale Haley, co-owner with Tim Staples of Oceanville Boatworks. That consists of fiberglass I-beams, Coosa board panels and Divinycell panels. “Everybody wants to go composite these days. Nobody wants wood anything because you have to replace it in 20 years, and the resale value is so much better when you have everything composite.”
The Coosa board decking is covered with ½” x 4’ Mega Rubber matting that runs back to the open transom. Below the Coosa board and Mega Rubber deck is storage for 28 lobster crates, 14 on each side. Haley has used Mega Rubber on over 40 boats, he notes. Forward of the deck is a split wheelhouse and below that a bath and shower combination.
In the engine room is a 1,000-hp MAN. The engine room bilges are covered with two coats of Interlux paint. “It’s Interlux for cleanliness,” Haley said. “It cleans up a lot easier.”
When asked if he thought the 1,000-hp MAN should allow Page to enter Maine’s lobster boat racing meets, Haley replied, “No, he just wants to get from point A to point B fast” – a common goal for almost all Maine lobstermen. But there are times when slow, careful maneuvering is needed, especially around docks; that’s why Page’s 48-footer is outfitted with a bow thruster.
Building the 48-foot lobster boat marks a turnaround for Oceanville Boatworks. The May 2023 issue of National Fisherman’s Around the Yards column featured Oceanville Boatworks building and launching the 50-foot lobster boat Katherine Pennington. Haley was lamenting the fact that the launching marked the end of a 9-boat string of finishing off hulls for fishermen, as the next boat was a 44-foot pleasure boat.
Haley said there had been “no bites on lobster boats since all this stuff that’s going down since last year.” He was referring to issues of whale entanglement and offshore wind farms and their effect on the lobster fishery.
But after the 48-foot Mussel Ridge goes into the water, Oceanville Boatworks’ next project is a 50-foot H & H Marine lobster boat going to Massachusetts. “It’s a little more active. We are getting more inquiries (from fishermen),” said Haley. “Don’t have as many calls as we used to, but still getting calls.”
