OUR STORY
The journey of Cottrell Boatbuilders has been a long and winding one, ultimately leading us to where we are today. Over the years, we've had many incarnations. We've explored various types of boatbuilding, finding success in some, but our true passion has always brought us back to crafting the classic small wooden boats we so deeply cherish. Driven by a mission to share these treasures with the world, Cottrell Boatbuilders is dedicated to creating these elegant, timeless boats for discerning customers worldwide.
Dale Cottrell has been around boats his whole life. Growing up on the Jersey Shore, he sailed, rowed, and surfed; moving to Maine in the late 60s, he discovered canoes. Leaning on his experience building fiberglass surfboards with his brother out of their from-scratch start-up company, Degroot & Mason, Dale realized he could expand his craft to building canoes, so he went to work with Rivers and Gilman in Hampden, Maine.
FROM SURFBOARDS TO BOATS
After a few years of working on canoes, Dale made his next career leap and began working in Blue Hill alongside Plastic Pete, a salty character who built and sold dinghies and row boats off the side of Rt.15. The locally known boats came in three sizes: 9', 11', and 13'. You want a 10’? ayuh, we got one. a 12, or an 8’? ayuh that one right there” Pete would say. No one ever measured.
BUILDING CHARACTER
With the help of wife and business partner Lynn, along with the rest of the family, the Cottrells built 1000s of Puffin Dinghies. Tired of working with nasty chemicals and resins, which required masks and protective gear – not to mention the environmental impact on the waters he loved– Dale and the family moved on to other projects, including wooden boat restoration and building a house, all with a keen eye on reducing their environmental footprint.
A FAMILY BUSINESS
After Pete's passing, Dale discovered a strong demand for classically styled, reasonably priced dinghies and realized he had an opportunity. Finding a small wooden rowboat in a boat shed where he worked, he took the lines from this little beauty, tweaking them to suit his eye. Over that winter, Dale built a new fiberglass one in his cellar and brought it to the Southwest Harbor Boat show – still wet varnish on the rails. Astonishingly, Dale sold a few at the boat show. And then a few more. The Puffin Dinghy was born.
THE PUFFIN DINGHY IS BORN
Soon, a new opportunity would catch Dale's attention when he was asked to build a small, wooden Catspaw Dinghy. Taking on this request rekindled his love for building small boats, the level of master craftsmanship required for steaming and bending frames, lining off planks just right, and using hundreds of years-old building practices. All of this culminated in seeing a finished watercraft emerge from what was once a pile of oak and cedar.
FINDING INSPIRATION
Dale's talent and relentless instance that small boats can be simultaneously elegant and practical highlighted to everyone that the boat market only offered ugly, utilitarian boats that lacked soul with their cookie-cutter shapes and dangerous materials like fiberglass, plastic, polyester, and vinyl. With orders coming in faster than he could build them Dale enlisted the help of two of his sons, Ben and Seth who had grown up working in the shop with their Dad. Lynn manages the office and the marketing and takes care of their customers. Now, everyone in the family has a hand crafting these timeless boats that are sought worldwide by discerning customers who understand the elegance and craftsmanship of creating each small boat.
A MORE REFINED BOAT
