Boat Builders Forum

Little Folly built by Ralph Stanley

Boat Builders of Mount Desert Island at

Penobscot Marine Museum Boat Builders Forum

Searsport, Maine, April 30, 2014 – Thursday, May 8, at 7:00 pm the Maine Boatbuilding Forum will host boat builders of Mount Desert Island.  Boat builders Hank Hinckley, Chummy Rich and Rich Helmke from Bass Harbor Boats, and Ralph and Richard Stanley, will talk about building everything from high-end yachts to lobster boats and traditional sloops for their diverse set of clients on Mount Desert Island and beyond.

Located in Southwest Harbor, Hank Hinckley Boat Builders specializes in building custom and semi-custom boats, and in restoring or rebuilding larger quality craft of up to about 45 feet.  The company was formed in 1994 by Hank Hinckley, son of the founder of what is now The Hinckley Company.  

Chummy Rich grew up in Tremont, Maine with a boat building grandfather Clifton Rich, and a boat building father Bobby Rich.  After decades in a business that he loved, he was thinking of retiring when Rich Helmke approached him and they now work together at Bass Harbor Boats in Bernard. 

Ralph Stanley is a Master Boatbuilder and a 1999 NEA National Heritage Fellow.  His son, Richard Stanley, of Richard Stanley Custom Boats in Bass Harbor, followed in his father’s footsteps and has been building wooden boats for over fifty years.

The Maine Boatbuilding Forum is moderated by Jon Johansen of Maine Coastal News, and is held at Penobscot Marine Museum’s Main Street Gallery, Route One, Searsport, Maine.  Tickets are $8 members and $10 non-members.  For more information go to www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org or call 207-548-2529 or 0334.