Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 31 O C T O B E R 2 , 2 0 1 7 partners' $15 million investment to date includes a satellite facility a little more than a mile away in Bucksport, with seven more buildings and seven acres of space for boat storage and custom and pro- duction composite boat-building. Each of the partners knows from experience, he says, the take-home lesson from Maine's centuries- long tradition of shipbuilding. "You have to be adaptable — always," he says. Early investments in Building 5, a fi ve-story 22,000-square-foot open-bay facility large enough for repair and refi tting boats of up to 120 feet long — as well as leased 165-ton and 485-ton travel lifts — signaled to the yachting world that Front Street was ready and able to compete with the biggest and best yacht yards on the East Coast. Without those investments, Turner says, "we'd have been just a boat yard. We're a shipyard on purpose." e refi ts of large yachts, he explains, are long- term projects involving virtually every trade. A few, like the 2012 complete stem-to-stern refi t of the 106-foot aluminum yacht Stoneface, can take as much as a year to complete, leveling out any lulls that might occur between custom boatbuilding or seasonal servicing jobs. Turner says his goal is to provide steady year- round work for each of his 100 employees. at instills loyalty and deepens the expertise of his team. "Our projects tend to be challenging," he says. "People like the challenges. ey get a chance to be creative." Turner readily acknowledges that every boat refi tted at Front Street Shipyard is a "calling card" in whatever ports it visits across the world's seven seas. One job frequently leads to another. A case in point: Stoneface's owner was so pleased he delivered a North Sea trawler-turned-yacht named Sindbad to the shipyard last fall for a similar makeover that includes replacing all of the decking. Built in 1962, the 80-foot 150-ton steel-hulled Sindbad is well on its way to looking like a brand-new vessel. Looking ahead, Turner says the fi nal piece of the puzzle for the Belfast yard is fi nally in place, with Finance Authority of Maine's approval on Aug. 17 of loan insurance for $3.6 million by Androscoggin Bank, which leverages fi nancing from other sources for the $5.8 million Building 6 project. Groundbreaking is expected next spring, with the fi ve-story 22,000 square feet building to be completed by late summer. "It enables us to compete better," Turner says. " ere are a lot of boats we could bid on and put in there and keep us rolling with inside work." Add to that the partnership with Norwegian shipyard Brødrene Aa, a world leader in the con- struction of high-speed ferries made of carbon-fi ber composites. Still in the early stages, the partnership doing business as Arcadia Alliance is poised to meet the needs of New York City, San Francisco, Seattle and other cities for high-speed ferries capable of going faster than 25 knots and carrying between 150 and 250 passengers per trip. Turner sees plenty more good days ahead. "What I like about this work is just being able to do diff erent things all the time," he says. "I like the artistic side of making something from nothing." J M C , M a i n e b i z d i g i t a l e d i t o r , c a n b e r e a c h e d a t @ .

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