Every Fall He'd Rig His Boat At Islesford For Winter Lobstering By Robert Morse SOUTHWEST HARBOR - The stepped-down sloop nosing its way through the lobster buoys was a far cry from the white-sailed beauty seen in the suummer with its load of "rusticators": white flannels, white linens, wide floppy hats,- and Capt. Archie Spurling. But come the end of the summer season and the transformation took place. Out came the cushions, lin- oleum, seats, mast, bowsprit and rig- ging. A short piece of plank was run out to protect her shearwater; laths were nailed- over her rail and coam- ing; a roll-down hood was installed that covered her cabin and part of her cockpit. With the two cycle, single cylinder Hartford in her cab- in, she was ready for lobstering. Ingenious? "Just had to have a launch to go fishing in," says Capt. Spurling. That was 40 or more years ago. Capt Archie bought the slocp from Clarence Smith, of Swans Island, two years from the time she slid down the ways of Wilbur Morse's shipyard in Friendship. She was 26 feet long, and "the prettiest little sloop that ever sailed these waters." Capt. Archie hasn't been winter fishing for several years. He's just a young fellow of 88 summers and "they don't let me go out any more." but if some evening you should go by the Islesford Grange Hall and hear Ta-Rah-BOOM-De-A", being rendered in a full rich baritone - that's Capt. Archie. Want to Sell It? Use the Maine Coast Fisher- man Service Page on Page 16 WHARTON SHIP YARD Building and Repairs Marine Railway Builders of Fine Commercial and Pleasure Boats