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Rangeley Boats Inspire Book

October 12, 2007 - FARMINGTON - The relationship of a wooden boat called "The Rangeley" and its links to the community, economy and character of the Rangeley Lakes area is the basis of the book "The Rangeley and Its Region."

Author Stephen Cole will read excerpts and discuss his book at 7 p.m. Thursday at Maine Mountain Heritage Center at 109 Church St.

"The boat was designed to serve guides and sport fishermen in a place with an international reputation both for the quality of salmon and brook trout fishing and for the pristine water and beautiful landscape," he said.

The book tells how the boat fit into the economy and life of the Rangeley Lakes area through builders and guides, hotel and sporting camp owners who bought the boats and other fishing-associated businesses such as fly tying and taxidermy.

The book is based on interviews with guides, boat builders and camp owners and includes historic photographs, he said. Until the 1950s, there were hundreds of the wooden boats on the Rangeley lakes. Now, most are fiberglass and aluminum but there are still builders who create one or two handmade wooden boats annually, he said.

Cole began the project after a boat shop on the coast was commissioned to build one for a man who was friendly with a Rangeley guide, Walter "Skeet" Davenport. The man wanted someone to document the boat and the culture surrounding it. Cole was hired to do that work, he said.

The Oquossoc Angling Association was instrumental in the development of The Rangeley, he said. After members had experienced similar boats outside the state, they hired carpenters in Maine to build a boat that easily rode along and was stable enough for the waters of the Rangeley Lakes, waters prone to wind and waves.

A series of builders started small businesses in Rangeley to build the boats. One, the Barrett Brothers, was one of the largest builders, producing 20 per year, he said. The last active builder, Herbie Ellis, built and repaired the boats until the 1980s.

"Now, when most people buy a boat, who knows where it was built. It's not necessarily made in the place for its use or the conditions of that place," he said.

Cole of Damariscotta works for the community development corporation Coastal Enterprises Inc. He is co-author of "I Was Content and Not Content: The Story of Linda Lord and the Closing of Penobscot Poultry."

All are welcome to attend and admission is free, Cobb said.

SOURCE: Sun-Journal

DATE: 10-10-2007


Lakes: Rangeley
Regions: Rangeley


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