Maine I Love — Aaron Porter

The joy of skimming a small outboard skiff across a placid bay is an endemic pleasure on Maine’s miles of protected water. No surprise then that the coast is a smorgasbord of regional variations on the lobster skiff, clamming skiff, or uncomplicated island transport of some other name. I found the green Joel White-designed skiff, built by Jimmy Steele in Brooklin in 1968, listed in Uncle Henry’s and stored in a barn on Deer Isle. Here she is in the early aughts after my thrifty restoration, running on her home waters of Eggemoggin Reach in company with boatbuilder Tom Hill’s Long Point Skiff. The winter after this picture was taken, we discovered White’s plans for the green skiff had been lost. Hill took the lines off the original and built a new version in strip-planked cedar. Branded the Jericho Bay Lobster Skiff by the WoodenBoat Store’s plans department, that boat is still my favorite ride. The old one remains in service to new owners on Vinalhaven, a quick passage from Brooklin on a calm day.      —Aaron Porter

Aaron Porter is editor of Professional Boatbuilder, writes from Brooklin, and escapes on his Jericho Bay Lobster Skiff as time and circumstances allow.