Wasque Origins
“In the early summer of 1954, a powerboat with the most beautiful lines I had ever seen was riding at anchor in the harbor of Rockport, Massachusetts,” writes Peter Matthiessen in his book Men’s Lives (Vintage Press, 1988). “Her designer turned out to be a local sailmaker who had built her as a harpoon boat; she was the only one of her kind, and she was for sale.”
It was typical of the hardy New England wooden swordfishing and tuna boats, with a single engine, a spotting tower and some serious fishing gear: outriggers, harpoons and a harpoon stand, a heavy tuna rod and reel, a fighting chair and “miscellaneous gear of all descriptions.” Writes Matthiessen: “I knew from the first she was my boat.” He named her Merlin and fished her out of Montauk, New York, as a charter boat, making two six-hour trips a day during the season, heading “east along Gin Beach, rounding Shagwong Point and running south to join the fishing fleet off Montauk.”
Matthiessen’s descriptions show what kind of a boat Merlin was: a fishing boat. “The bluefishing was strong and steady, and offshore, the school tuna were so thick that by leaving one fish on the line while boating the other three, we could keep all four lines loaded almost continually,” he writes.
Merlin could fish for tuna at the 80-fathom line or work the shallows of Cartwright Shoal, teeming with “small, 3-pound ‘tailor’ bluefish that bit as fast as the hand lines were tossed overboard,” Matthiessen writes.
On one trip, Merlin was caught among the rocks by a rogue wave. “I spun the wheel and gave Merlin her full throttle. With a heavy thud our trusty boat struck … a high, clear cresting wave and for one sickening moment, we lost headway. Then the wave parted, two walls of green water rushed by the cockpit, over our heads and the boat sprung up, popping free.”
Matthiessen left charter fishing in the late 1950s and sold Merlin to his brother, Carey, who lived on Martha’s Vineyard. Carey in turn sold the boat to shipyard owner and fisherman Tom Hale. Hale, along with fishing buddies Robert Thompson and Bob Love, used it to fish the waters of the Vineyard. One of their favorite spots was Wasque Point, on Chappaquiddick Island. On a fishing trip, they began talking about building a 32-foot fishboat out of fiberglass, using Merlin as a plug.
In 1969, Vineyard Yachts opened its doors on the island, with Thompson’s son, David, building a boat called the Wasque 32.
Postscript: Vineyard Yachts closed up shop in the mid-1980s, and the mold for the Wasque 32 was put on a truck, bound for the W.R. Schock yard in California. The truck ran off the road in Arizona, and the mold was destroyed. The original Merlin remained a working boat on the island until it was destroyed by fire in July 2010.