Since 1992
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By Abigail Woodward
Months spent out in the garage had come down to this, “She’s either going to float, or she’s going to sink.”
Erroll Woodward’s lifelong love for lobsters and the ocean had inspired him to build the Margaret S. S’curse, a to-scale replica of a boat his father and uncle had while lobster fishing in Jonesport-Beals.
Woodward began working before and after school when he was 13. His father gave him a rowboat and tasked him with gathering the used lobster traps his uncles had set. When he wasn’t gathering lobster traps he dug for clams and went fishing for haddock, cod and pollack. Although it was hard work, it was something that he enjoyed immensely.
He continued fishing until March 1951, when he joined the Navy.
After leaving the Navy, Woodward enrolled in college and became a school teacher in Springfield, far away from the ocean he loved so dearly. He retired from teaching in 1991, and after some time moved to Turner to be closer to his son and his family. That is when he decided to set up shop in his garage and build model boats. He spent hours working on making the boat as accurate as possible. His daughter, Heather Millen, made sails for him and his wife, June, helped him find some of the finishing details. After the success of the first boat, Woodward decided to build another.
The biggest difference? This one would be seaworthy.
On Oct. 6, Wooward finally had the chance to test his boat. With much of his family around him, he and his boat made their way to the Androscoggin River.
With Roy, the recon-man in a kayak, the boat was launched. With Woodward at the controls, the Margaret S. S’curse took off, effortlessly cutting through the water.
After dozens of loops around, Woodward backed the boat back up by the dock. Not a single drop of water had made it into the boat. His design was flawless.
Eighty-six years of love for learning had helped him create a boat that was seaworthy.
PHOTO: Erroll Woodward and his boat. (Submitted photo)
