Frost - Lowell Boatbuilding Timeline
Birth of the lobster-style hullWilliam A. Frost of Digby Neck, Nova Scotia, begins building boats, a trade he learned from his father & grandfather. He designs a new style of boats that maximize the capabilities of the new gas engines - sleek, smooth hulls that slice through the water with minimum resistance and maximum speed. "When I was about five years old, I can remember him building his first power boat, which was a wonder then - to see a boat moving through the water with no sail!" - Wilhelmina (Frost) Lowell Even Frost's earliest boats won races all over Nova Scotia. The photo above pictures the Ethel Maude, an early Frost boat, in Whale Cove, N.S. |
1874 - Will Frost born 1901 - Wilhelmina Frost born 1905 - Riley Lowell born 1906 - Will Frost designs & builds his first power boat, the Toronto |
Move to MaineAfter a fire destroys his shop in Nova Scotia, Frost moves his family to Beal's Island, Maine. Numerous local boat builders worked in his shop over the 20 years he lived in the Beal's Island/Jonesport area. His design features were rapidly incorporated into the area's boatbuilding culture, producing the style often known as the "Jonesporter" or "Beal's Islander." "The Frost boat about doubled the speed of any boat on the reach," said boatbuilder Harold Gower (Island Journal, 1985). |
1912 - Will Frost and his family move from Digby Neck, NS, to Beal's Island, ME
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Rumrunning EraDuring Prohibition, Frost is known to have built rumrunner boats for the mafia, the Kennedy family, and the federal government - all at the same time. The photo at right pictures rumrunner hulls in his boat yard. Boatbuilder Avery Kelley says, "Frost built some rumrunners. They were 56 feet long, with tremendous horsepower - brutal things. Then he designed one for the government to catch them." ("Maine Lobsterboats" by Virginia Thorndike) |
1926 - Royal Lowell born |
Depression Years - Massachusetts, Rhode IslandDuring the depression, the Frost and Lowell families move to Massachussetts, where in 1933 Will Frost establishes Frost & Co. In 1935 he founds William Frost Co. in Tiverton, Rhode Island, which is run by his son Bert Frost. |
1930 - Daniel Lowell born 1937 - Carroll Lowell born |
Back to MaineFrost retires briefly at age 72 due to poor health. However, soon his friend Henry Dyer of Chebeague Island comes to him wanting a boat. So Frost set up shop again in Portland, designing and building the well-known Merganser, Leonard W, No Name, and close to 100 more boats over the next six years. "Frost's Merganser model is though by many who have seen her to be one of the finest power boat hulls ever conceived." Paul Lazarus, "National Fisherman," Yearbook 1989 |
1946 - Frost retires briefly 1947 - Frost establishes William Frost Boatbuilder in Portland 1948 - Frost launches Merganser. |
Riley & SonsFrost retires at age 78 in 1952. Riley Lowell opens shops in Gray and in Yarmouth, which he operates together with his boatbuilding sons Royal, Daniel, Malcom, and Carroll. |
1951 -
Frost moves business to South Portland (in the old Humpty Dumpty factory) 1952- Will Frost retires 1953 - South Portland business closes 1950s & 60s - Riley Lowell and his sons open boat shops in Gray and downtown Yarmouth |
Brothers team upIn 1961, Carroll Lowell establishes Even Keel Marine Specialties, Inc. in Yarmouth, mostly building boats designed by his brother, Royal. "You can't fool a lobster fisherman. He's had boats all his life, knows what boats are built well and what aren't, and you are not going to fool him." Carroll Lowell |
1961 -
Carroll Lowell establishes Even Keel Marine Specialties, Inc.
1963 - Riley Lowell dies 1967 - Will Frost dies 1969 - Carroll rebuilds Merganser |
Fiberglass boomRoyal Lowell designs many boats for fiberglass production companies, including: |
1972 - Jamie H. Lowell born Royal Lowell establishes the marine design firm Lowell & Spalding, Naval Architects with Al Spalding
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Carroll Lowell DesignsAfter his brother Royal's death in 1983, Carroll begins building boats of his own design, including his masterpiece Sea Scribe. "Sea Scribe is still turning heads - she is quite a craft as you well know. On a scale of 100 she is a 100-plus!!" - Alan VanWinkle, an owner of Sea Scribe While his sons are still in school, Carroll also sells some of his designs to other builders. In particular he works with Peter Kass, designing boats for Kass to build and helping to establish Kass as a wooden boat builder. |
1983 - Royal Lowell dies 1984 - Sea Scribe launched
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Carroll & SonsCarroll develops his popular Merganser-replica boats in the early 1990s. His sons Jamie, Joe, and Jesse graduate from school and begin working with him full time. "He called me one day and held the phone toward the shop and told me, 'Listen! Listen!' I said, 'Carroll, I know where you are... you're sitting on your butt in a chair in the corner and those boys are building that boat!" - wife Lorelei Lowell In 1997, Carroll designs his first hull for fiberglass production, the Lowell 43, and he and his sons build the plug together for creating the mold. In July 97 he suffers a heart attack and dies. |
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New Lowell LineToday, Jamie & Joe continue to run Even Keel Marine as a custom boat yard like those of their father, grandfather, and great-grandfather before them. They design new boats, build one-off fiberglass, wood, or cold-molded boats, finish out kit boats, and do repairs and storage. They have also established a line of fiberglass Lowell hulls, available as kits or as completed boats. Visit their shop on the Cousins River in Yarmouth and see how they can meet your nautical needs. |
2001 - Lowell Brothers launch one-off custom fiberglass boat, La Madeleine 2002 - launch 40' wood lobsteryacht, the Carroll L 2005 - Jamie and Joe add molds for the Lowell 26 and Lowell 22 fiberglass hulls |