Rob Blood -
Rob was eight years old when his parents made the decision to take their two children and dog and set out for a life on the ocean on a 26ft catamaran. Of course, Rob liked the idea of living at sea and the 6 year journey reinforced his deep love and connection to the sea and sailing. They sailed up and down the East Coast of the United States and down to the Caribbean. Rob’s father, who worked on fiberglass boats, would stop in ports to find work for up to two months at a time doing repairs and making enough money to support the family and carry on. The Blood family eventually ended up in Martha’s Vinyard where Rob attended a charter school and he first became interested in wooden boats and wooden boat building. Prior to his graduation, an opportunity presented itself, and Rob was asked to be an apprentice with Myles Thurlow. He would then go on to apprentice for Gannon and Benjamin constructing new builds, performing maintenance, and restoring traditional boats. Rob attended Maine Maritime Academy, furthering his small vessel operations knowledge, and gaining experience on tall ships in a variety of locations.
After years of working in various yards, and independently, up and down the East Coast Rob settled in Maine and started R.E. Blood Boatworks, Inc in 2013. Since then R.E. Blood Boatworks has steadily grown with a committed base of great customers who have sought out his expertise in wooden boat restoration and repair.
Chris Richard is our mechanic. He spent over ten years in the Coast Guard as a diesel and outboard mechanic, among other roles. Chris recently started working full time with R.E. Blood Boatworks, though Chris and I have worked together in the past on several projects, and it was clear that he would be an essential hire for our expanded offerings.
Rick Morse has been working in many different fields in the marine industries including as a captain, wooden boat builder, and mechanic. In the past year Rick has proven himself very valuable on our restoration projects. Rick has dealt with many different types of boats, and has an expansive base of knowledge and contacts that we routinely tap into.
Jordan Kepler has been working off and on with R.E. Blood Boatworks for 4 years, and is now with us full time. Jordan is a very skilled carpenter, and a great metal worker. He is essential to our wooden boat program. When he isn’t here, he is in his own shop making knives and furniture.
Ted Pelletier is our yard crew and maintenance guru. Ted will be handling our yard moves, much of the routine maintenance on our customer boats, and keeping up with facility maintenance. Ted joined R.E. Blood Boatworks in the spring, when he started working with John to learn about the routines at Newcastle Marine, and helped get boats ready to launch.
Ann Blood is our office manager. Ann has been working with R.E. Blood Boatworks for several years as the book keeper. She brings a strong business sense to the company, and keeps our bookkeeping, inventory, and scheduling in order. Her background in office management and her years of experience cruising on a sailboat make her an asset at the new location.
Robert Blood owns and manages R.E. Blood Boatworks. I've been building, restoring, and maintaining wooden boats for 22 years. As my customer base has grown I’ve had to increase my shop space and workforce to keep up. This growth has led to my decision to purchase Newcastle Marine. The additional space allows us to take on more wooden boat work and expand our offerings to provide the services that you have always had at Newcastle Marine.