ISLEBUILT BOATS
Eliot Beveridge, founder of IsleBuilt Boats, was a descendant of the North Haven Beverage family. He was born in Massachusetts in 1908 and received his B.A and M.A from Harvard in the early 1930s. Best known as an artist, genealogist, organic gardener, educator and photographer, Beveridge moved permanently to North Haven in 1954. With his wife, Dorothy, Beveridge restored the farm built by his grandfather on the eastern end of North Haven. Beveridge died on North Haven in 1982.
In 1955, while living on North Haven, Eliot Beveridge established a boatbuilding business named Islebuilt Boats. Through a contract with Penobscot Boat Works of Rockport, Beveridge built at least three models for sale throughout New England. Beveridge and his team of carpenters, painters and “finish men” built a 16 foot outboard motor, lapstrake model called the Sport -O –Ramic. The Skim Skiff, another model, was 9 feet in length and took a five horsepower motor. A third model, the Skim-Fisher 14, could take a motor up to twenty horsepower and could reach speeds of 30 miles per hour. The Sport-O-Ramic model featured mahogany seats and a mahogany stern. Painted white on the outside, this model had green floor boards, varnished hardwood rails and a varnished interior.
Beveridge ordered mahogany, pine, oak and marine grade plywood from the mainland. When the wood arrived on the North Haven Ferry it was taken to the upstairs section of the old Hopkins Store grain shed. There the pieces needed to construct a boat were cut out by Beveridge along with two other workers. The pieces were then handed down into the room below where Elliott Brown, Forrest Adams and Robert Sprague started actual construction. Donald Greenlaw took on the finishing work and Ernest Brown did the final painting in a connecting shop.
Once completed, they were shipped to the mainland on the North Haven Ferry and then taken by trailer, in nests of four or five, to outlets in Boston, Connecticut and New York.
When the 100th Sport-O-Ramic was completed, Beveridge held an open house to celebrate. Foreman, Forrest Adams, attached a brass name plate with the number 100 to the trim of the 16 foot boat.
During the time of its existence (approximately from 1955-1957), IsleBuilt Boats constructed over 350 boats in an effort at mass production and assembly line efficiency. The company provided much needed work for more than ten fishermen, carpenters, painters and caretakers who would not otherwise have had winter employment. In addition to those mentioned above, Milton Ames, Sherman Cooper, Austin Grant, and Joel Wooster also worked for IsleBuilt.
In the museum boatshed, an example of one of the IsleBuilt boats was given to the North Haven Historical by Ken and Shaunagh Robbins.
In 1955, while living on North Haven, Eliot Beveridge established a boatbuilding business named Islebuilt Boats. Through a contract with Penobscot Boat Works of Rockport, Beveridge built at least three models for sale throughout New England. Beveridge and his team of carpenters, painters and “finish men” built a 16 foot outboard motor, lapstrake model called the Sport -O –Ramic. The Skim Skiff, another model, was 9 feet in length and took a five horsepower motor. A third model, the Skim-Fisher 14, could take a motor up to twenty horsepower and could reach speeds of 30 miles per hour. The Sport-O-Ramic model featured mahogany seats and a mahogany stern. Painted white on the outside, this model had green floor boards, varnished hardwood rails and a varnished interior.
Beveridge ordered mahogany, pine, oak and marine grade plywood from the mainland. When the wood arrived on the North Haven Ferry it was taken to the upstairs section of the old Hopkins Store grain shed. There the pieces needed to construct a boat were cut out by Beveridge along with two other workers. The pieces were then handed down into the room below where Elliott Brown, Forrest Adams and Robert Sprague started actual construction. Donald Greenlaw took on the finishing work and Ernest Brown did the final painting in a connecting shop.
Once completed, they were shipped to the mainland on the North Haven Ferry and then taken by trailer, in nests of four or five, to outlets in Boston, Connecticut and New York.
When the 100th Sport-O-Ramic was completed, Beveridge held an open house to celebrate. Foreman, Forrest Adams, attached a brass name plate with the number 100 to the trim of the 16 foot boat.
During the time of its existence (approximately from 1955-1957), IsleBuilt Boats constructed over 350 boats in an effort at mass production and assembly line efficiency. The company provided much needed work for more than ten fishermen, carpenters, painters and caretakers who would not otherwise have had winter employment. In addition to those mentioned above, Milton Ames, Sherman Cooper, Austin Grant, and Joel Wooster also worked for IsleBuilt.
In the museum boatshed, an example of one of the IsleBuilt boats was given to the North Haven Historical by Ken and Shaunagh Robbins.
Eliot Beveridge, 1908 - 1982
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One of Eliot Beveridge's many watercolors featuring North Haven's waterfront
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