Seasonal Boat Dreams

Late-winter boat dreams meet early spring boating reality in the pages of this March/April issue. Scan over to page 56 to see lovely small boats sailing on a blue summer sea. The Small Reach Regatta happens every year in Maine, and like its cousin the Eggemoggin Reach Regatta for bigger wooden yachts, it attracts dozens of passionate sailors. Variations of these images dance in my head most nights as I drift off to sleep. These dream boats change regularly, of course, as do the locales, but my dream outfit of shorts, sun hat, and sandals remains the same.

Then read as Ben Emory shares his love of early spring boating in Maine (page 21). He’s fully suited up, with a wool hat, gloves, and boots, as he rows his peapod toward an ice-covered ledge. I felt the cold through the layers of clothes as I read his piece. I also identified with the grin on his face—just detectable under the scarf —because I, too, like to row in these conditions. Early spring boating is special joy.

Other articles in this issue celebrate some of the folks who make Maine work. Heather Perry’s photographs feature dozens of shipwrights at Bath Iron Works. Go online at www.maineboats. com to hear these men and women describe their work. Elsewhere in the issue, we celebrate a gentleman who recycles old boats into parts for someone’s next pet project, the growing number of women working in boatshops and boatyards, and a new ownership group at a thriving Maine yard. These are the people who help turn our winter dreams into summer reality. And if that’s not enough, this issue includes Boats of the Year 2018, which features even more boats to dream about. There are some amazing projects in these pages.

From shop to shore, we live in a special place. Here people build, repair and refit these beautiful objects called boats so that we can experience the water even when it’s still partially frozen, and return home safe, to dream once more of the summer ahead.