There's an article in this issue about the restoration of a lobsterboat originally built by Vinnie Cavanaugh down in Casco Bay (see page 72). It underscores for me the need to document, at least, or save and use, at best, the Maine wooden lobsterboat. These symbols of Maine's working heritage are fast disappearing, being replaced by fiberglass boats. As true workboats, they were never built to last forever; like worn-out tools they were meant to be discarded at the end of their working lives.

Ben Fuller, curator of the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport, is spearheading a team with the mission to locate and document these remaining icons. The museum's role in saving working artifacts goes back a long way: in the earliest days of the institution, so the story goes, one of the museum's founders was driving along Route 1 north of Searsport and bought a barrel of builder's half models that were being sold as kindling. Those models are now in the museum's collection. While entire lobsterboats are too big to be sold as kindling, they are not too big to be crushed in a landfill.

Over the years, we have published a number of articles in a series called "Project Wooden Lobsterboat." Peter Bass's piece in this issue about the restoration of Mariah Willo adds to that folder. We would like to do more, and to help the PMM team as it documents these wonderful boats. If you know about a wooden lobsterboat afloat or on shore, please get in touch with us - maineboats@maineboats.com [1] - and we will pass the information along.

Next, and before it is too late, we should look into those few that are left of the regional punts and skiffs used by Maine coast fishermen.