Seventy-five days, 17 hours, 37 minutes.
I know you know, because we’re all counting down the days, hours, and minutes until the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby begins, right?
If you fish the Derby, there is a dream living inside you. It might be a momentary dream or a lifelong dream, but I’m betting each and every fisherman who’s entered the Derby has had at least one thought of winning the Derby — and a boat.
I’m a surfcaster. I love the feel of the sand beneath my feet and the waves washing over my ankles. Even when it’s colder, and I’m wearing waders, there’s nothing better than standing on the shore and casting into the surf.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy going out on a boat fishing with friends from time to time. I’ll be fishing from a boat in a few weeks, for the Fluke for Luke Tournament.
Here’s my simple truth: I want to win a boat. Specifically, a 22-foot Eastern Boats Sisu, which just happens to be the grand prize for the Derby.
Last week, I spent a day seriously focused on my dream. No, I wasn’t fishing extra-long hours or shopping for new lures. I took a road trip with Dave Balon, Mark Wrabel, and Joe Susienka to Milton, N.H., to visit Greg Hopkins and Eastern Boats.
I’ve seen lots of boats in our Island waters. I’ve seen wooden boats under construction. But I’ve never seen a fiberglass boat being built, and I certainly hadn’t seen a Derby dream being assembled. This trip was better than tickets to the Super Bowl!
Greg met us in the parking lot, and began by introducing us to the Eastern Boats team and McKenzies’ apple cider doughnuts.
Within minutes, I knew my dream was in the right hands when Greg shared that he’d bought a boatbuilding company before he bought a boat. I don’t have a boat license, I don’t know how to drive or take care of a boat, but I want to win a Sisu!
Greg and his girlfriend Jess moved from Connecticut to Milton in 2008, long before he’d heard of Eastern Boats. Greg was a mortgage broker until the housing market crashed. He shifted gears, studied for his financial advisor license, and opened a new business. He also married Jess.
Living in a small town, Greg went door-to-door introducing himself. One of the doors he knocked on was Eastern Boats. He met a nice woman named Cheryl, who didn’t hire him.
Two years later, Cheryl remembered Greg. “We had a financial advisor. He passed away. I had Greg’s card on my desk. I went in to my boss and asked if he wanted me to call Greg. I called, and he answered,” said Cheryl.
From 2011 through 2019, Greg advised Eastern Boats: “Bob [Bourdeau, the former owner] joked a couple of times, ‘Wanna buy it?’”
In the spring of 2019, Bob asked again. Greg was in a different place. He’d had a cancer scare, and lost his dad to Alzheimer’s at the young age of 66. “I wasn’t saying no anymore. I was saying yes, and taking challenges,” said Greg, who talked the deal over with Jess and said yes to Eastern Boats.
In the past five years, Greg has hired dozens of local residents, lost a building to fire, built a building, rebuilt all the molds, and created an inviting work environment.
Greg focuses on helping his employees live their best lives. Parents can bring their children to work before and after school to avoid the need and cost of daycare. The last week of summer, when all the nearby camps are finished, Greg and his family host Camp Eastern at their home. “We have face-painting and games for the kids, and the parents can work,” said Greg.
Eastern spreads its generosity beyond the Milton community and the Derby. In addition to building a Sisu for the Derby, the team at Eastern is also building a boat for the Veterans Fishing Adventure. VFA offers disabled veterans and their families fishing and boating trips in Virginia on the Potomac and Occoquan Rivers (easternboats.com/veterans-fishing-adventure).
We saw the VFA boat under construction. We’re sworn to secrecy, as the color and design are surprises, so you’ll have to check out the Eastern website for the upcoming grand reveal: www.easternboats.com.
While the VFA boat and the Derby Sisu are designed by Eastern, anyone can create a super-cool boat. “We can do anything you want above the deck. We won’t alter anything below deck. We want to maintain the integrity and safety of the boat,” said Greg.
We saw the molds for Eastern’s nine hulls, from which they make 20 different model boats. Once a customer selects a model, the next level of fun begins — color, motor, furniture, fabric. We saw each step walking through the workshops. It was better than walking through the Cadbury factory in Tasmania and getting samples of each candy bar.
“You can come here, meet Haley [Holmes], meet Jason [Shearn], meet everybody building your boat. We send you pictures as it’s built. You can come up and see your boat. That’s the cool thing; by the time you take delivery, you’ve seen your boat from birth to finish,” said Greg, adding, “When you order a boat from us, you leave here and go right to the water.”
While I wondered about a navy and pink boat, one of the guys asked about motors. Greg explained that Eastern Boats semi-displace water. “The semi-displacement hull allows for the water to displace midship, therefore accommodating the sea and making for a much more comfortable ride,” said Greg, adding, “Our boats can handle speeds of 30 to 40 knots, but they are sweeter in the mid-20s.”
Over and over, as we walked through the different buildings, I was impressed by the number of people working on a boat. We saw every stage of production, from the hull mold to the seat fabrics. We even saw two Sisu boats in different stages. Either one could be this year’s Derby boat. We saw them. The dream is real. Very, very real!
I left Eastern Boats amped up. My dream of winning their Sisu was deeper, more personal. Greg, Jess, their two daughters, Ellie and Gia, and the team at Eastern Boats share the same comradery, same caring, and same sense of fun that we experience during the 35 days of the Derby.
The four of us left Milton grinning like kids who’d just opened the best presents from Santa. If you’re dreaming of owning a boat for the first time, or buying a new boat, you have to go meet Greg and his team at Eastern Boats, and tour the factory. I don’t know if you’ll get an apple cider doughnut, but you’ll have a fantastic time, you’ll understand why an Eastern Boat hull “can go through a wall,” and what it means to be locally made with personal attention to every detail.
I hope to see you on the beach, and I hope we’re both dreaming dreams that one day come true.
