Ready, Set, Drill…

Photos by Peach Frederick

We celebrate all sorts of boats at the Maine Boat & Home Show, powered by all sorts of means, from wind and paddle to gasoline and diesel. This year, a new category was considered: the cordless power drill. Yup. You read that correctly. Inspired by an event held in England by Water Craft magazine, Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors hosted North America’s first Cordless Canoe Challenge at our show last summer on the Rockland, Maine waterfront. It was a light-hearted salute to the possibilities for alternate propulsion systems for boats—in this case, the powerhead of a cordless tool.

The race featured two entries: one from the Maine Ocean School, the year-old Searsport-based magnet school (bottom), and one sponsored by Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors magazine and built by former Steel-Pro partner and tinkerer extraordinaire, Fred Carey (top). The two boats raced out around a mark and back. The Ocean School team of Noah Hall and Cole Natale won on style and elegance, while the magazine’s vessel, ably piloted by Rockland firefighter/EMT and boat show staffer, Ian Smith, won on speed. This could be the start of a new high school sporting event!

The Maine Boat & Home Show took place August 9-11 and featured more than 100 boats on the land and in the water, as well as dozens of marine- and home-related makers and businesses. Experience the event through a slide show at maineboats.com. For more information about the Maine Ocean School, go to maineoceanschool.org.