I know you’re probably thinking a National Fisherman Boat of the Month named after one of the team’s editors, Carli? It’s spelled with an “i” on the end, so it must be her. Well, you’re right. 

There are many ways to feel small in this industry. Weather that doesn’t care about plans or holidays. Gear failures that happen at the worst possible moments. Boats that demand every ounce of patience, money, and grit that you’ve got.  

So, when my fiancé, Joe, named his newest fishing boat after me, I felt something I don’t often feel around the interviews or boats I cover: I was speechless.  

The F/V Carli Elaine isn’t just a new build or another upgrade for Joe’s working fleet. It’s a reminder that behind every hull mold, every weld made to a stainless stern, and every sea trial that can either push back or push forward a project, there’s a family, and that’s what keeps this industry afloat.  

This is now the second boat I’ve been lucky enough to have my name tied to. My dad’s 36-foot Wayne Beal state-side lobster boat, the Carl & Co., was named after my brother Cody and me. However, this one hits differently. This one is personal in a way that only fishermen and the people who love them can truly understand.  

Especially because I was VERY convinced we were naming her Night Moves.  

I had the mermaid decal designed, the lettering mocked up, and the Bob Seger song mentally queued every time I thought about the boat. For those of you who don’t know, going into the Covid pandemic, years before I started my position with National Fisherman, I started a decal business designing boat lettering and graphics for mostly commercial boats in New England. Though it began as a passion project to help my family get their names on their boats without having to paint them by hand, it soon grew to be much bigger than I could have imagined.  

Normally, Joe would be fired up by the designs I came up with, especially for something for his boat, but this time, crickets. I gave him a little grief — okay, more than a little — about not sending any photos of the boat with the name while he was in Canada at the yard getting ready for sea trials. Something felt off, but I mostly let it slide.  

I told him to explain the boat to me, half joking and half serious, to explain the boat to me like I was a random reporter. I wanted to hear it all — not just that it was a new shiny hull, but the blood, sweat, and long nights it took Belliveau Shipyard to build their first ever 65- by 30-foot lobster boat. Because Joe knows boats and, more importantly, what his captains and crews need offshore. 

Before the Carli Elaine, Joe had run a 50-by-30 Rhino Novis he bought from his friend in Nova Scotia, also built by Belliveau. They are solid boats that he would then spend time converting to survive in Lobster Management Area 3, which extends from New England down toward the Mid-Atlantic.  

Though these conversions weren’t all minor tweaks, they had to handle weather with little to no warning, sleep a whole crew of six, including the captain, and pull double duty for part-time scallop permits as well.  

Those boats became the Beast of Burden (The Beast) and the Proud Mary, keeping Joe’s tradition of oldies-inspired boat names alive. They are workhorses. Beaten, bruised, and recognized by all who cross their paths in the Gloucester area. 

A little background 

Joe and I had known of each other growing up on the water in Maine’s small coastal world, but we only crossed paths every now and then. Everything changed in the summer of 2020, when Joe had brought The Beast down from Yarmouth and hauled her out at Portland Yacht Services. He reached out to me to design the name and the bear that still lives on the bow. 

That design sparked a friendship that grew into a life together — a fishing family forged by Joe’s offshore trips, my coverage of the latest fishing news, and our daughter, who is growing up in the gritty fishing world that shaped both of her parents. 

The Beast has taken beatings offshore of high flyers, heavy seas, and hundreds of nautical miles, with nothing but Starlink keeping us connected. The Proud Mary, purchased in 2023, refined more of a setup for full-time lobstering with part-time scalloping, but Joe knew there was always another step. Not bigger for the sake of bigger, but better.  

That’s when a newbuild from Belliveau entered the conversation.  

The yard was able to focus entirely on the Carli Elaine, a rare opportunity to focus entirely on getting the vessel right for Joe. And they did. This boat was built from the hull up for federal lobstering and scalloping in U.S. waters, with the kind of thoughtful design and stainless-steel dreams fishermen talk about but don’t always get to see.  

Then came the moment Joe had clearly been holding onto.  

As the Carli Elaine entered Gloucester Harbor, surrounded by our friends and family, I finally saw the bow. My mermaid wasn’t there.  

Instead, stretching from starboard to port was a patriotic eagle, wings wide, with Carli Elaine lettered on either side. I was holding our daughter, Avery, who already has a boat named after her, the Avery Louise, formerly the well-known groundfish vessel Nobska, previously owned by Blue Harvest. I leaned down and whispered to her, “Mama has a boat now, too.” 

Joe had named the boat after me, not for show, but for our family. For what we’re building together. A testament for the people who wait on the dock, watch MarineTraffic religiously, and measure time in how many days there are in a trip. That’s what keeps the industry going: family. 

Now, for the nitty-gritty boat specs (because I know you’ve been scrolling for it). 

As we head into the holidays, the Carli Elaine is more than a new addition to a fleet. She’s proof that fishing is still a family business, even when the boats get bigger, and the stakes get higher.  

And if you see her coming into the harbor this winter — eagle on the bow, steel wrapped on her stern — know she was built with love, grit, and a whole lot of faith in the people who built her and bring her home after every trip.

Boat Specs:

Name of Boat: Carli Elaine

Home Port: Gloucester, MA

Owner: Joe Clancy, Clancy Fisheries

Builder: Belliveau Shipyard, Nova Scotia, Canada

Hull Material: Fiberglass

Year built: 2025

Fishery: Lobster, scallop

Length: 65 feet

Beam: 30 feet

Draft: 10 feet

Engine: Mitsubishi S6R

Power Train: Twin Disc @6:1; 5.5 inch stainless shaft

Hydraulics: On demand hydraulics

Fuel Capacity: 4000 gallons

Top Speed: 11.5 knots 

Cruise: 9 knots  

Crew accommodations: on-deck crew room and bunks for seven

Electronics: two Koden radars, Koden Sounder, Simrad autopilot, Starlink communications

Deck Gear: 24-inch Pine Hill hauler, and custom built scallop frame and winches