Trawler Lifestyle | PassageMaker Magazine & Events

Here we are aboard Ursa Major-a 65-foot North Sea trawler rolling softly in gentle Pacific swells a mile off Lituya Bay on Alaska's south central coast. The plan is to cross the bar-known for doling out death and destruction- and enter a harbor whose own horrifying history includes even more death and destruction in a setting of incredible natural beauty, without becoming part of Lituya Bay's grisly record.

On my way south from Annapolis to visit a couple of boats on the lower half of the East Coast, I wandered over to see our friends at Custom Steel Boats in Merritt, North Carolina. We have visited this custom builder's yard several times over the years, checking out the company's latest projects, each a custom creation in steel and aluminum, built to a number of designs- and from many different designers. From Buehler to Benford, Sponberg to Johnston, the family-run operation has a history of producing metal boats in many shapes and sizes. Siblings Rodney and Theresa Flowers carry on the tradition started by their parents, and now with Rodney's two children, Sean and Kait, on the company payroll, the Flowers family has taken the company beyond its historical roots.