Maine Lobsterboats: Builders and Lobstermen Speak of Their Craft

Rating:
Summary: Builders and Lobstermen speak of their craft
Review: Have you ever ridden a lobsterboat through rolling seas, or seen one under construction at a boat yard? Few people have been given a look into the craftsmanship that makes Maine lobsterboats so special. Nor have many had a chance to meet the men and women who design, build, and work aboard these ruggedly beautiful vessels. Until now.

In her entertaining and informative style, author Virginia Thorndike presents interviews with a range of Mainers who have made a living and a life through their ties to the Maine lobsterboat. Readers will hear builder and designer Mac Pettegow of Southwest Harbor, who has adopted subtle changes in hull shape and construction to produce the speed demanded by modern boat owners: "The young lions want to go out there and just tear it up." And they'll chat with Islesboro's Went Durkee, who turned a boyhood dream of ringing the island with traps into a fishing career spanning nearly 60 years aboard boats like the EDNA: "She was ! wet-something like a submarine-but by God, she was able!"

Lobstermen and women have always been set apart-by outsiders as well as by their own choosing-as members of an exclusive organization. Maine Lobsterboats explores the hearts and minds of the people who make up this special club.

Rating:
Summary: Perhaps more accurately, Mid-Coast Maine Lobsterboats
Review: I wish the author had spent more time to the east of Penobscot Bay. With her repeated references to the designers and builders of Beals Island and Jonesport, I felt she should have spent more time there than she did. Interestingly, the oft heard complaint about the impact the modern, fast designs have had on the traditional good looks of the Maine lobsterboat seem to have come from those designers and builders whose boats don't make the "cut" at the seven-event lobsterboat race series held though out the summer along the Maine coast.

A better read than expected but not as complete as I'd hoped for.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining
Review: Informative and entertaining with local flavor from the men who build lobsterboats and fish them. Enjoyed it.

Rating:
Summary: A rich collection of commentary on Maine Lobsterboats.
Review: Thorndike has assembled a thoroughly engrossing collection of solid information, individual viewpoints, opinions and tall tales about the Maine lobsterboat told in their own words by the people who know and love them best. Each interview unveils the character of the individual as well as the boats they talk about. Downeast life on the water comes alive in the droll understated humor that is their characteristic means of expression. The book is pure pleasure.