Spencer Boat Company celebrate three years

About 100 people helped Spencer Boat Company celebrate three years in business on Feb. 1 with a Cuban-style pig roast.

In a little speech before the feast, owner John Spencer thanked his crew, vendors and guests.
“Nobody more than me can believe it’s been three years,” he said to applause. “Most people thought we wouldn’t last six months, but here we are.”

Spencer leased part of the shipyard formerly owned by Merrill Stevens after it ceased operations just before Christmas in 2009. Spencer, a former Merrill Stevens superintendent, invested his own money and found like-minded friends to do the same, then hired back about 15 of his old crew and got back to work. Many of them are still there, three years later.