Mainely Boats in Cushing, Maine, sent a Calvin 34 about 11 miles up the coast to Rockland for an early May launching. That was the Bottom Line, and it was built for a Boston tuna fisherman.
S.W. Boatworks in Lamoine, Maine, built the Bottom Line as a bare hull and top before sending her to Mainely Boats, which finished her off with composite construction, including fiberglass I-beams under the deck.
“It’s pretty much all we do,” says Mainely Boats owner, Mike Hooper, referring to the composite construction.
The Bottom Line has a full wheelhouse that was raised 6 inches and extended aft 4 feet. That allowed the 500-hp Cummins QSC 8.3 main engine and a Cummins 5-kW Onan generator to fit under the wheelhouse, while providing ample room up above for the guy at the wheel, as well as cupboards, a table, bench and captain’s chair. Hooper figures the 500-hp Cummins should easily get the Bottom Line up to 25 knots.
Tuna will be kept on deck in iced bags; the ice will be kept cool in two small, insulated holds beneath the deck. Tuna are stored on deck because once the fuel tanks and exhaust system were in place, not much room remained below deck for a fish hold.
Up forward is a full bathroom with sink and shower, and V-berths. There’s also a utility room, hydraulic and electrical room.
Mainely Boats started finishing off another Calvin 34 from S.W. Boatworks the last week in March for a Massachusetts tuna fisherman. “Basically the two boats are identical,” Hooper says. That includes the 500-hp Cummins main engine and the 5-kW Cummins Onan generator.
A pair of bare hulls will be finished as offshore lobster boats. One is a 44 Calvin from S.W. Boatworks that will go to Maine’s Vinalhaven Island with an 800 MAN. The other is a 46 Osmond from H&H Marine in Steuben, Maine. When completed it will leave for Port Clyde, Maine, with an 800-hp Scania.
Down the coast on Maine’s Westport Island, Dana’s Boatshop has had a couple of boats in for what Dana Faulkingham refers to as “overhauls.” The Syringa, a 36 Calvin out of Cape Porpoise, Maine, was one of those. It arrived in early April with “a pretty healthy list of items he wants done,” says Faulkingham. A major item — and one that more lobstermen are turning to — involves covering the deck with a rubber mat. The Syringa is the fourth boat to have its fiberglass deck covered by Dana Faulkingham and his son Jason.
The process starts by grinding down the entire deck, removing the hatches and then adjusting them to make up for the half-inch-thick rubber mat.
The rubber mat comes in rolls from Rubber Flooring.com, and Faulkingham has the boat owner order “his own rubber because I don’t want to be picking the colors.” The mats have generally been dark with colored pigments. “It’s very attractive and looks good when it’s down,” he says. The mat is glued to the deck with a quarter-inch gap between the mat and the hatches, wheelhouse and bulwarks to allow for expansion in the sun. Then the gap is filled in with a bead of sealant.
Everybody that’s had the deck covered with the rubber mat “likes it,” says Faulkingham. He describes the rubber mat as very tough and not slippery. “It’s kind of kind on you because everywhere you go, you are on the rubber deck.” The rubber mat also cuts down on engine and hull noises. Faulkingham doesn’t know its life expectancy but says, “the first one we did is going into its third season and looks just as good as when we put it down.”
Prior to working on the Syringa, the At Last, a 26 General Marine out of Southport, Maine, arrived for a new wheelhouse top, to have the port bulkhead repaired and the deck replaced. When the deck was removed, it was discovered there were holes in one of the two aluminum fuel tanks below the tank; so they were replaced with one 50-gallon fiberglass tank.
The Streamline, a 36 Northern Bay lobster boat out of Pemaquid, was also in to have its deck covered with rubber. Though before that took place, the old fiberglass deck was torn off and replaced with a new fiberglass deck. The wheelhouse and trunk top were also sanded and repainted.
Work on the Syringa needs to be completed by mid-June, for that’s when the Faulkinghams close the shop doors, load up their boats — Dana’s Kam-Too a 37 Osmond and Jason’s No Sympathy a 41 Libby — with lobster traps and head out to the grounds.
