|
|
|
|
|
| |
||||
|
||||
|
After twenty years, the Carroll L was launched in Yarmouth, Maine at the Royal River Boat Yard. The Carroll L, formerly known as the Connie O'Connor, was designed by Carroll Lowell in 1983. Carroll comes from a well known family heritage of Maine downeast boat builders including Royal Lowell, a well known naval architect; William "Pappy" Frost, "dean" of Maine lobster boat builders; and many others. Carroll designed and constructed numerous commercial and pleasure lobster boats, perhaps most notably Sea Scribe.
Carroll completed hull construction at Even Keel Marine Specialties in 1987. At this point Rick was experiencing financial difficulties. All work stopped on the Connie O'Connor and she was moved into storage. The hull remained stored on Even Keel Marine Specialties' property until 1992, when Alan Dugas, the owner of Royal River Boat Yard, became interested in it. Alan thought the Connie O'Connor, if converted to a lobster-cruiser design, would make an excellent weekender for cruising the local islands. After settling her debt, Alan took ownership of the Connie O'Connor. He moved her to Royal River Boat Yard and hired Carroll Lowell to rework her design from that of a dragger to a classic trunk-cabin cruiser with a large closed in salon and pilot house. The design was completed in 1992 and Carroll began working part time on construction of the house along with members of Alan's yard crew. The outside of the new Connie O'Connor was completed and Carroll began finishing the interior. Unfortunately, with the rough bulkheads installed and minor finish work complete, Carroll suffered a heart attack in July 1997. Construction of the Connie O'Connor was again delayed until the end of 2000. By this time Alan's needs had changed. He no longer needed a boat for weekend camping. The half-finished Connie O'Connor was sold. Don and Carolann Streinz, from Connecticut, purchased the boat and moved it back to Even Keel Marine Specialties for finishing. Carroll Lowell's sons, Jamie and Joseph, now operating their father's business, agreed to finish the boat. At the outset, Don and Carolann decided to rename the boat in honor of her designer. Her name was changed and she was documented with the name of Carroll L hailing from Mystic, CT. Jamie, Joseph and their crew have finished the Carroll L superbly; their father would be proud. She now sports a flybridge, has a large stateroom with oversized platform bed forward and a galley and large head aft in the trunk. The salon includes the pilot house with chart table, a convertible corner settee, a dining table, an entertainment cabinet with passthrough to the galley and ample floor space. The Carroll L was launched successfully at the Royal River Boat Yard in the early summer of 2002. A celebration of her launching and her long construction history was held at Royal River Boat Yard on Saturday, July 20, 2002, starting about noon. The launch was attended by about 150 people.
 Carroll Lowell drew this profile of the Connie O'Connor for Alan Dugas in November 1992. The Carroll L has a slightly different flybridge, but otherwise looks the same today as she appeared in this drawing.
| ||||||
The Connie O'Connor was to be a one-off wooden hull fishing boat designed for service as an off-shore dragger and trawler. She was designed for Rick Norton. Rick owned a replacement stem and forefoot made by Carroll Lowell in 1982 for use on his existing boat, but when the old boat was declared "too far gone," Carroll designed a new boat to Rick's requirements that included using the replacement stem and forefoot. The Connie O'Connor was skeg built with a LOA of 40' 3", a beam of 13' 8" and a draft of 3' 10".