The Down East Yacht Club (DEYC) wrapped up another Maine boating season Saturday, Sept. 12, with its annual Haul Out Party—and, in true boating fashion, this year’s gathering required a last-minute change of course.

When unforeseen circumstances and conditions made the club’s planned location unavailable at the eleventh hour, newly elected Commodore Steve Marin reached out to longtime DEYC member Frank Luke of Luke’s Boatyard in East Boothbay. Frank, Nora, Jeremy and Andrew Luke and the Luke’s crew opened the yard to the club, and just like that, the Haul Out Party had a new location overlooking the spectacular Linekin Bay.

Wow, the change in venue proved to be a pretty spectacular one.

Under brilliant September skies, 122 members and guests gathered among the boats, travel lift and working buildings of the historic East Boothbay yard for an afternoon of food, stories, laughter and the easy camaraderie that has long earned DEYC its nickname, the “Fun Club.”

The Woody Wagon was in full swing and libations were flowing, members arrived with lots of appetizers to share, and the “Galley Scallywags” kept the grill busy with Pinkham’s burgers and North Country brats, accompanied by homemade (by DEYC’s own Jen Marin) baked beans, pasta salads, coleslaw and watermelon and finished with apple pie à la mode made by our local talented pastry chef, Alex Tallen.

There was plenty happening beyond the grill. Twenty membership-unit photographs were taken for the club’s online roster, two new membership applications were collected, and the DEYC Ship’s Store rang up plenty of sales. Two $100 Ship’s Store gift certificates went home with lucky winners.

But the story of this year’s Haul Out was really the place—and the people who made it available.

Luke’s Boatyard has been part of the fabric of East Boothbay and Linekin Bay for more than 80 years. More than 100 wooden and aluminum vessels, both sail and power, have been built and launched from the yard over the generations. Today, the family-run boatyard continues that tradition with repair, refit and storage services. Luke's Boatyard

DEYC and the Lukes have some history of their own. Frank and Nora, longtime club members, have welcomed DEYC to the yard every spring for the Down East Yacht Club Launch Party and the August Summer Cruise Captain’s meeting. This time, however, their hospitality came when the club really needed a huge last-minute favor and in true boaters fashion they came thru!

Commodore Marin summed up the day afterward: “There were a lot of moving parts yesterday, and once again the DEYC spirit pulled it all off! What an amazing group effort.” The laughter and tall tale conversations flowed and we all left with our fill of fabulous food, and plans for the next gathering.

For DEYC, Haul Out traditionally marks the bittersweet end of the Maine boating season. As one earlier club account put it, members are happy to see one another but a little sad because the party means another season on the water is drawing to a close. Yet Saturday felt less like an ending than a reminder of what keeps this particular boating community together: when plans change, people step up.

And there was one more wonderfully Boothbay moment captured in the photographs from the afternoon: Frank Luke and Brenda Blake, two familiar faces from longtime Boothbay region boatyard families—and classmates at Boothbay Region High School class of 1963—together again at a boatyard on Linekin Bay all these years later.

Some things change with every season. Some of the best things don’t.