Morris and Varne Fletcher

Morris Works on a Boat

Morris Fletcher (Above and Below) in the Shed Where He Builds Fishing Boats

Morris and Varne Fletcher
Master Boat Builders

Morris Fletcher Boat builders Morris and Varne Fletcher often work together in the shop where their father began building boats. But, for the most part, they each build entirely different craft. In his kitchen Varne fashions beautiful models of the tall-masted ships that used to ply the waters of Passamaquoddy Bay, while Morris, who also works at the Jackson Brothers' fish-processing plant, still builds working fishing boats such as the one he is near completing for his son. Made of oak and cedar, the finished boat should cost about ten thousand dollars, not including Morris's labor.
Another island resident, ninety-year-old Asa Brown, recalls that Morris built the first of twenty-five boats that Asa used while he was a fisherman. Says Asa, "I went over and asked him, 'How much would you build me a boat for? I don't want one very big. I want her built twenty-six-foot-long and six-foot-wide.' He said, 'Oh, should be over a hundred dollars.' He built her and painted her. And I went over after and 'Well, now,' I said, 'You said it'd be over a hundred dollars. It don't want to be too damn much over a hundred dollars, cause I ain't got very much over a hundred.' Well, he said, 'I'm going to be as good as my word. A hundred and one dollars.'"

Varne Fletcher with Boat Model
Varne Fletcher Works on a Model Ship in His Wilson's Beach Home