Artisan Boatworks Builds Recession-Proof Wooden Vessels

by Steve Cartwright

On a cold February day on a quiet back road in Rockport, the crew at Artisan Boatworks is hard at work on several projects. The boss, Alec Brainerd, has just returned from a few days in Florida where he had trailered a classic Herreshoff sloop to a potential customer for a brief sail there.

The day sail aboard Kitty resulted in a $150,000 commission. A worthwhile road trip, and it’s what Brainerd believes is the way to treat people shopping for a museum-quality, seaworthy boat.

Chad Myers is building a special-order lightweight dinghy, foam core with wood veneer and trim, for a price that is, well, a secret. It’s a Brooklin Boat Yard design with high-tech strip composite construction.

Josh Anderson is inserting mahogany planks to replace butt blocks on the hull of the Glory, a 1957 Sparkman and Stephens yawl undergoing full restoration.

Justin Ward is sanding the hull of an antique sloop. Other workers at the shop are Ben Loveless and Mike Rogers. As spring and sailing season arrives, Artisan will likely hire more workers. It’s another day at a young company that keeps on growing, building and restoring classic wooden sailboats, from daysailers to ocean racers.

Larrain Slaymaker is fielding inquiries via the Internet in a business that sails on profitably despite the slumping economy.

The shop also stores, trailers and maintains these gleaming yachts for their affluent owners, some of whom have homes on nearby Islesboro, North Haven and Vinalhaven. Others live further away but value Artisan’s meticulous maintenance and full service.

On average, Artisan’s customers are at least millionaires. They may spend tens of thousands of dollars for a small vessel or they may spend a million dollars for a larger one. Whichever they choose, they will be making a lasting investment in a boat built to exceedingly high standards. These are classics. You might call them legacy boats.

Brainerd, 35, grew up around boats in Brooksville and sailed the world before attending a now-closed Rockport boatbuilding school. He settled into boatbuilding and raising a family.

“Half of what we do is restoration and maintenance, half is new construction. We’re the go-to people for that kind of work,” said Brainerd. “We’re busier now than we’ve ever been.” He has heard customers say out loud, “As long as you have your boat built in Maine, you can’t go wrong.”

Brainerd, who worked for Taylor Allen at Rockport Marine, said his standards go beyond careful craftsmanship to the ethics of restoring historic boats. He said if someone came to him with a classic boat and wanted to severely alter its appearance, he would refuse the job. “The moral implications are important,” he said. But he is pragmatic, too. A new engine, electronics, modern wood fasteners – these make good sense, he said.

Much of Artisan’s boatbuilding work is still done by hand and designs are lofted, where else, in the loft. Brainerd has 1898 plans for Herreshoff’s gaff-rigged Buzzards Bay 15, of which the 25-foot Kitty is a marconi-rigged example, called the Watch Hill 15. These graceful centerboard boats are 24 feet, 6 inches length overall, 15 feet at the waterline. It will take Artisan Boatworks three months to and build and deliver the latest one to its Florida owner.

Artisan Boatworks opened its doors in 2002, and has since managed to grow sustainably and expand substantially. The original barn-style shop beside the house now includes a nearby boat storage building and Brainerd said he is about ready to add still more space with another building.

Before marriage and starting his own business, Brainerd signed on to the137-foot schooner Roseway, which took passengers on cruises from Camden. He started as night watchman and rose to first mate, sailing Roseway to the Virgin Islands. In a decade of sailing he visited ports from the Galapagos to New Zealand, where he spent a year working on the refit of a 100' wooden yawl. He crewed aboard a 94-foot William Fife ketch built in 1914, taking first place in the trans-Atlantic New York to Falmouth race. He later skippered the 83-foot schooner Appledore III, taking paying passengers for two-hour sails from Camden.

Between kids and shop work, Brainerd doesn’t have much time to sail any more. He has a sailboat and motorboat. Both are made of fiberglass, he admitted a bit sheepishly. “They’re the only fiberglass boats here.”