Lakatos & Daughters Boatyard · Tinker's Cove
In March 1997, István and Rosa Lakatos signed a lease on a lobster shed with a leaking roof. This is what happened next, and an invitation to come and see the yard on Saturday, June 12.
István and Rosa rent the old lobster shed at the head of Tinker's Cove. The first job is re-planking a neighbor's 16-foot skiff. He pays half in cash and half in firewood, which heats the shed that winter.
Eleven boats come out of the water in October and sit under tarps behind the shed. Storage has paid the winter bills every year since.
István and Rosa buy the shed, and the two acres around it, from their landlord.
The first boat built here from the keel up is Rosa, a 26-foot wooden launch, named over István's objections. She is still the yard's workboat, and she still gets a fresh coat of green every April.
A secondhand 35-ton hoist comes up the road on two trucks. The old marine railway stays, for the oldest wooden boats, which like to be hauled gently.
New orders stop. The yard keeps all six people on by repairing fishing boats at cost through the winter. Three of those six still work here.
Kata finishes a boatbuilding apprenticeship and takes a bench in the shop. Júlia takes over the office and, within a year, the storage business.
A northeaster takes the floating dock and forty feet of the pier in one night. Thirty-one neighbors and customers turn up with trucks and chainsaws. The pier is rebuilt by May, and their names are carved under the third plank from the end.
Lakatos Boat Repair becomes Lakatos & Daughters. Rosa paints the sign herself and hangs it before telling anyone.
The yard starts taking two apprentices a year from the high school's shop class. Sixteen have come through so far, and five of them stayed.
A 32-foot electric launch for a lake ferry service is the first boat built here without a fuel tank.
Kata becomes yard manager. István still comes in on Fridays to tell everyone what they are doing wrong.
Fourteen people work here now. Hull No. 19 is in the big shed with her planking half on, and in June we are opening the gates to everyone who has kept a boat here, fixed one here or just leaned on the fence to watch.
Saturday, June 12, 2027 · noon to 5 · at the end of Cove Road
So there is enough chowder, tell Júlia how many of you are coming by Tuesday, June 1. Just reply to the message this link came in.