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~ Last-ever launch of a Carroll-Lowell-built boat
~ Jamie and Joe Lowell finish the work their father left behind ~ 20-year-old boat goes into the water for the first time ~ Trawler turns pleasure yacht
"It all began with this piece of wood," said Don Streinz, patting the stem of the Carroll L hanging from the travel lift above him.
"It all" refers to the long history of an unusual boat. The story involves the typical boat owner's emotional ups and downs: delight, despair, ecstasy, scrounging for money, squabbles, waiting, excitement, debating, more waiting... Except this story takes place over 20 years, 2 generations, 4 owners, 2 boat shops,1 dead boatbuilder, and 2 boatbuilding sons carrying on a legacy...
The history of the Carroll L (or the Connie O'Connor, as she was originally named) begins in the early 80s.
In 1982, a man stepped onto the yard of Even Keel Marine wanting a new stem for his old Novi boat.
So Carroll Lowell and his brother Daniel Lowell helped the man build a new stem.
Then the man decided that his new stem was too fine for his old boat.
So he asked Carroll to design him a whole new boat for his nice new stem...
20 years and a few owners later, the Lowells have finally sent the boat on her maiden voyage. Only, now "the Lowells" are Carroll's sons Jamie and Joe. Carroll passed away in 1997, and so this boat will be the last Carroll-Lowell-built vessel ever launched. (However, there are still Carroll-Lowell-designed boats being built and launched to this day.)
The Carroll L was originally designed as a work boat for dragging and trawling, but has now been completed as a live-aboard yacht with all the amenities for pleasure cruising. (Even Keel was said to build "yacht-like" work boats even before the idea was popular [i.e., National Fisherman, March 1975, page A1], but the Carroll L puts a new spin on that premise!) But after Carroll's death, Dugas "put her in the yard with a tarp over her," said Jamie and Joe. "I don't think Alan had the heart for it after Dad died."
In fall 2000, a couple from Connecticut, Don and Carolann Streinz, bought the boat. (In fact, the papers were signed on October 16, Carroll's birthday.) The Streinzes immediately renamed the boat the Carroll L, in honor of her designer-builder.
Several people suggested that the Streinzes bring the boat "back home" to Even Keel for finishing, and the Streinzes determined that Carroll's sons were indeed the best workers for the job.
When Jamie and Joe Lowell went to look at the boat, still in Dugas' yard, it was an emotional experience.
"It was like a stop in time," said Jamie. "You could see the doors in the cabin, all hung, with the stoppers on: they still had the tape on them, telling which door was which, and it was all in my father's handwriting."
"You just knew nobody had touched half that stuff since him," added Joe.
When the boat arrived back at Even Keel, it was "basically a skeleton on the inside," said Jamie.
The initial cabin layout was rearranged to the Streinzes' preferences and has been completed in luxurious style. Carroll's hallmark laminated cabin beams still grace the ceiling. They overlook the elegant woodworking of his sons, his closest pupils, completing the harmonious picture.
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Carroll Lowell, the designer and primary builder of the Carroll L, worked on her throughout the 80s and 90s. Alan Dugas of Royal River Boatyard purchased the boat in 1992, and Carroll worked with the Royal River crew to finish her as a pleasure vessel.
