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Stetson Summer Series: Rhode Island Cruising

Photography by Maaike Bernstrom

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Maria and Andrew Coughlin live in a small seaside town outside of Newport, RI called Tiverton along with their Bernese Mountain Dogs Whiskey (8mo) and Moose (3). Andrew is a wooden boat builder and boat captain; Maria is a photographer and former boat captain. They bought “Seven Girls” in September 2018 up in Elliot, Maine. They were on the lookout for a wooden lobster boat that they could transform into a comfortable cruiser for their family. “We love the lines of lobster boats, the easy handling and the back decks for entertaining.”

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“Seven Girls” is a wooden 33-foot, 1960 Ralph Stanley lobster boat, originally built by Ralph for his father and named after his seven sisters, in Southwest Harbor, Maine. In 1999, Ralph Stanley received a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship and now the lines drawings for “Seven Girls” are in the Library of Congress (fun fact!).

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Andrew and Maria met while working on boats and over their 5-year marriage they have renovated houses, antique cars, and this vintage lobster boat. “We love a good project and this boat is so special to us because it really gets us back to our roots of being on the water. We wanted a boat that was nice, but not too nice. One that our dogs and friend’s kids couldn’t mess up. We wanted something that was comfortable to cruise over to Cuttyhunk or Nantucket or Marthas Vineyard for a weekend getaway; or just to sit on the mooring and watch the sunset with a cocktail.”

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