By Aaron Porter

LAMOINE — In spite of concerns about a shaky national economy, boat builders in Hancock County are staying busy. In the case of Carlton Johnson’s Redfern Boat, diversification is what’s keeping the company comfortably and confidently afloat.

Carlton Johnson (above) rips out another piece of teak to trim the windshield on a Redfern runabout.   A new teak deck from Redfern Boat graces a Bridges Point 24 hull built by Wade Dow. STAFF PHOTOS BY AARON PORTER

Johnson and a crew of five are based in the company’s Lamoine shops. A walk through reveals a range of projects, from traditional wood construction to new fiberglass production, powerboats to sailboats, restoration to new construction.

Plus, there is plenty of designing going on.

The oldest project in the works right now is Venture, a 1930s vintage, British-built ketch. Redfern took over the extensive restoration project from a Rockland Yard last year and could well have the grand, old vessel in the water late this summer.

The 55-foot ketch had been reframed and refastened. With the hull basically sound, Johnson said the Redfern crew will be working to rebuild Venture’s beautifully appointed interior, reusing as much of the original joinery and paneling as possible. He said that won’t be possible everywhere, as the owners have requested some changes to the accommodations. That’s not surprising, looking at the original plans that designate a “ladies cabin.”

But updating won’t be confined to the interior. Johnson said the rig will be modernized, as well. Instead of the original gaff rig, complete with large topsails, the new rig will have an easily handled Marconi main and mizzen and a roller-furling jib.

Venture is outside and undercover for the winter; the project on hold until warmer weather. In one building shop, a Hinckley Pilot is having some scheduled maintenance done.

In the space next to it, two of the Redfern runabouts the yard has been selling since the late 1990s are coming together. They are hulls number 32 and 33, Johnson said with a hint of a smile.

Since it’s introduction, he’s produced boats up to 26 feet long by adding a section to the middle of hulls pulled from the 22-foot mold.

While the original runabouts had only a windshield, the larger models have a cuddy cabin with a head and two bunks forward. Johnson said he’s got orders through 2006 for the Redfern models.

Building each new boat is bread and butter and one more hull number on the Redfern list, but there’s more than the initial construction that keeps the builder going.

Out in the heated boat storage buildings Johnson has a half-dozen Redferns tucked away along with the rest of the boats he maintains and services for owners year after year. Indeed, demand for service and maintenance work is growing so quickly that he’s keeping some boats in a building in Southwest Harbor in addition to the Lamoine fleet. In the summer, Johnson runs Up Harbor Marine in Bass Harbor, where some of his storage clients have slips for the summer.

The cavernous heated storage buildings behind the shop allow the Redfern crew to work on varnish and other incidental repairs on stored vessels through the winter.

A collection of large Hinckleys, Morrises and other quality sail and powerboats are squeezed into the space.

In the middle of the first shop is one of Johnson’s latest projects. It’s a small fiberglass sailboat with a graceful shape from almost any angle. She’s a Joel White designed Bridges Point 24 built in Brooklin by Wade Dow.

Dow’s shop built this hull, as well; however, the owner wanted some very specific woodwork on his Bridges Point. Dow turned the hull over to Redfern for the laying of the first sprung teak deck ever installed on a Bridges Point.

The end product is a graceful hull with a rich wood deck and cockpit arrangement. Johnson said Redfern also will be installing custom slatted teak cockpit seats, and putting together the rig for the little sloop.

Johnson said Dow had him finish another of the Bridges Point sloops five years ago. He said Dow has been very helpful in collaborating on the custom elements of Johnson’s additions to the boat.

Working on the little daysailer is appealing to Johnson. In the last year some of the major industry players, such as Hinckley and J, have introduced new daysailers that feature large cockpits, simple accommodations and aren’t crammed full of electronics and mechanical systems.

“There’s definitely a swing in the day-use boat direction,” Johnson said. “They’re trying to get back to what made the leisure boat industry.”

His work on the Bridges Point means Johnson has diversified to cover that trend, as well.

Construction, maintenance, service, storage, slip rental are all elements of Redfern’s success, but there’s more.

Throughout the shop and storage buildings there’s a pervasive element wherever you look: teak. That’s not odd for a shop that’s finishing off elegant boats, but at Redfern it seems to be everywhere.

Indeed, Johnson’s scrap pile is littered with pieces of wood many builders would be hanging on to.

Johnson, who uses a lot of the wood on the Redfern runabouts, has set up to import the beautiful tropical wood in volumes that have made him an important supplier for the many builders around Hancock County.

From procuring raw materials, to maintaining that polished finish, Johnson has found a role for Redfern to play.