Come Rain and High Water
Some people go to the opera. In South Bristol, Maine, people go to a John’s Bay Boat launch.
John’s Bay Boat Company owner Peter Kass has been building his traditional plank-on-frame lobster boats from a water-front property in South Bristol, Maine, for nearly 40 years. He started his boat-building career down the road at Gamage Shipyard, but when Gamage started building steel boats, he went to Padebco and then opened his own shop in 1983. Kass designs and builds recreational and work boats, but his wooden vessels are admired for their easy motion, a feature that’s prized by all the lobstermen who swear by his boats.
When Kass gets ready to launch one of
