This 26′ lobsterboat-style cruiser boat from the shop of Connecticut Builder Tom Townsend is lightweight and fast, and it’s powered by a most unlikely engine: the powerplant of an eviscerated Kawasaki Jet Ski.
When Australian Will Baillieu wanted a Maine lobsterboat, he went to the Maine shop of Peter Kass to have one built. He then had the boat, BENITO, shipped home to Melbourne. Will discovered Peter on YouTube, and managed the details of the construction by Skype.
Three years ago, for the first winter since opening its doors for business in 1983, John’s Bay Boat Co. didn’t have a new-boat customer. “In the winter of 2009–10, we basically closed,” says Peter Kass, the company’s founder. “I had to lay everyone off.” With seven boats now on order, things have turned around for the South Bristol, Maine, shop.
This 26′ lobsterboat-style cruiser boat from the shop of Connecticut Builder Tom Townsend is lightweight and fast, and it’s powered by a most unlikely engine: the powerplant of an eviscerated Kawasaki Jet Ski.
When Australian Will Baillieu wanted a Maine lobsterboat, he went to the Maine shop of Peter Kass to have one built. He then had the boat, BENITO, shipped home to Melbourne. Will discovered Peter on YouTube, and managed the details of the construction by Skype.
Three years ago, for the first winter since opening its doors for business in 1983, John’s Bay Boat Co. didn’t have a new-boat customer. “In the winter of 2009–10, we basically closed,” says Peter Kass, the company’s founder. “I had to lay everyone off.” With seven boats now on order, things have turned around for the South Bristol, Maine, shop.
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