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Meet the Team

Sam Temple
President

Sam Temple is a 3rd generation boatbuilder and started working at Rockport Marine at age 11. After attending Bates College, he spent some of his 20’s at Brooklin Boatyard in the shadow of his late grandfather, Joel White. He also built some boats in an active sheep barn during a stint as a farm caretaker.

Sam returned to Rockport Marine in 2007 because he was impressed with the capabilities of the crew and style of leadership at the yard. After leading restorations and new construction projects Sam became co-owner of the yard in 2014. Today he runs the business and has a hand in many projects.

Sam is married to Meggan Dwyer, who works in aquaculture research, and the two have a daughter. Outside of work Sam has built a couple barns, some small boats and enjoys family time on and around Penobscot Bay

Taylor Allen
Vice President

Taylor first began building boats as a teenager at Rockport Marine when the yard still belonged to his father. After attending Amherst College in Massachusetts, Taylor returned to Maine and after a short stint working for his future father-in-law Joel White at Brooklin Boatyard, Taylor was named the president of Rockport Marine in 1980. Taylor has four children and is married to writer and editor Martha White. Taylor’s leadership built the culture and capabilities of Rockport Marine into the yard it is today.

Sam Clark
Chief Operating Officer

Sam is a native of Midcoast Maine who went away long enough to appreciate what he left behind but made it back in time to raise a family.  Introduced to sailing and his future wife, aboard the Schooner Heritage 25 years ago, Sam has loved all three ever since. A graduate of WPI with lifelong ties to the repair yard of Maine’s traditional schooner fleet as well as experience as a corporate engineer and business consultant, Sam has brought a unique perspective to Rockport Marine since he started in 2022. His role is tending to the business and infrastructure systems that keep everything in the shipyard running smoothly and making sure our crew continue to enjoy working at our world-class facility.

Simon Castle
General Manager

Simon grew up on the Isle of Wight, England and landed in the USA in the early 90’s as crew on the 94’ William Fife Ketch Sumurun.  After sailing the eastern seaboard for 4 years, he reverted to his profession as an English boatbuilder. Simon subcontracted at several small yards until joining Wayfarer Marine in 2001. Initially, he ran the Carpentry Department but bigger things were calling. With his English charm and hands-on knowledge, the opportunity to become a Service Manager seemed right and he has never looked back. After Lyman-Morse’s acquisition of Wayfarer in 2015, he worked his way up to Division Manager before leaving in 2022.  Stepping into the GM role at Rockport Marine, Simon has quickly established himself as a respected leader who has the experience to efficiently resolve problems as they arise. Simon spends his spare time with wife and two sons in Rockport, sailing, skiing, and enjoining what Maine has to offer.

Katie Schoettle
Service Manager

Having spent her formative years on the water canoeing the lakes of Minnesota, it was no surprise that she quickly fell in love with sailing and salt water when she moved to Maine to crew on a windjammer. Katie has made Maine her home and wooden boats her vocation. She joined Rockport Marine in 2013 as part of the finishing team. By 2017 her strong work ethic, organizational skills, and understanding of boats, made her an easy pick to help with managing the service yard. She takes pride in helping owners get the most of their short season. She can still be found during commissioning season, with a varnish brush in her hand putting on the perfect final coat.

 

Sam Chamberlin
Lead Designer

Sam Chamberlin grew up exploring the islands of Penobscot Bay from his family home on Isle au Haut. These early experiences led to a variety of jobs in Maine’s traditional schooner fleet, on yachts, and commercial fishing. He studied Physics at Bates College and Yacht Design at the Landing School. Prior to joining the design staff at Rockport Marine, he worked as a boatbuilder and designer for Brooklin, Maine-based builder Brion Rieff.

Sam is also restoring Vaiger, a double-ended gaff cutter built in 1951 in Scalloway, Shetland.

Glenn Pease
Project Manager

Glenn Pease has worked at Rockport Marine for 25 years. His talent for this work is broad and deep.  Glenn can personally plan and execute any of the work that goes on in a boatbuilding project. He also runs a good project, collaborating successfully with owners, suppliers and colleagues. Recently his projects have been to make large pieces of complex structural work look simple. Glenn is an active mountain biker, skier, gardener, and much more.

Charlie Conlan
Project Manager

Charlie’s love for sailing began as a child when he spent summers exploring the waters off Cape Cod with his family.  Since graduating from The Landing School in 1989, Charlie has had a wide variety of experiences on traditional and commercial vessels, and has worked as captain of several schooners. He currently holds a 100 Ton USCG Masters License. In his free time, Charlie continues to explore the waters off Cape Cod and Penobscot Bay, and is teaching his two children how to build a Good Little Skiff.

Jeff Morse
Project Manager

Jeff Morse has worked at Rockport Marine for 20 years. Other than digging clams for 2 years his entire career has been in building boats. He was a 1977 graduate of the Boatbuilding School in Lubec. At Rockport Marine Jeff has led many rebuild projects including the restoration of the Alden motorsailer Trade Wind. Besides being an excellent boat builder Jeff communicates exceptionally well with boat owners and representatives resulting in smooth projects with accurate timetables.  Outside of work Jeff is an active member of his church and spends time with his family

Matt Colby
Yard Manager

Matt spent his childhood on the water at the family camp in Harpswell and learning to sail on the Belgrade Lakes where he grew up.  A one week trip on the sloop Vela ignited his passion for wooden vessels and led him to spend his next several summers on schooners out of Camden and Castine.  He attended Maine Maritime Academy, where he worked in the yard and graduated from the Vessel Operations and Technology program. After working on tugboats he came to work at Rockport Marine where he runs the yard crew with a smile and makes big operations look like no big deal.