No, no one is starting an oil drilling project in the Boothbay region. However, the area’s newest construction boat was built and designed for it. Liftboat Enzo Charles came July 31 after almost a month’s travel to begin its new life with Fuller Marine Services.   

Captain Sam Fuller recently took the ship on an over 2,500-mile journey from New Iberia, Louisiana to its new home in Maine. The crew of four traveled from the Gulf of Mexico, around Key West in Florida, and up the Eastern Seaboard.  

“If you're a mariner, it's definitely a cool trip to see the entire East Coast,” Fuller said. This was his third trip up the coast and the second one to retrieve a liftboat from Louisiana. 

Liftboats are a specialty vessel designed to aid in marine construction. Regular barges can wobble around, complicating work. As the name implies, liftboats have long legs that extend down to the seafloor to lift and stabilize the vessel. According to Fuller, they were built for oil extraction in the Gulf of Mexico, but an industry downturn in 2015 meant many sat idle for years. He said many are currently going to Nigeria for oil extraction, and it was likely now or never to acquire one.  

Last year, Fuller traveled south to scope out boats and eventually settled on the Enzo Charles, which had been sitting for almost a decade. Then, the work began. He spent months with welders and other contractors on repairs, including replacing one of five engines, as the boat sat safely in a creek. 

"It was in really rough shape when we bought it. And man, the man-hours involved to bring this back has just been, I mean, thousands, thousands of man hours,” Fuller said. “And I'm not exaggerating. I think we probably went through about 2,500 pounds of welding rod.” 

Once it was seaworthy, Fuller said the voyage took around 22 days of sailing time, impressive given the vessel. Even at first glance, it’s easy to tell liftboats are not designed for long voyages. At aound 60 feet wide and 100 feet long, the boat weighs about 700 tons. Its massive legs tower over the water like giant metal telephone poles. But, in inclement weather, they whip around and can bend or break. Fuller said it's like shaking a long piece of rebar.  

He said the whole trip had to be planned so the boat wouldn't take more than a few feet of sea height in the front, ideally with the wind behind them. The extra wind was also helpful given the boat can only go around 5 knots. “It's kind of like a brick going through the water,” he said.  

However, after 17 days of nonstrop travel, they had to wait for better conditions. The crew took a layover off North Carolina, the most dangerous part of the trip, which Fuller said is called “the graveyard of the Atlantic.”  

“The nastiest place on the whole East Coast is definitely North Carolina,” he said. “(There) are really, really treacherous places just because it's fairly shallow and moving sandbars in places. And it's where (there's) full exposure from the north.” 

Fuller said each crew member kept a diligent eye on several weather apps. In addition, his father and company owner, Chuck, was monitoring the weather from his office in Maine. Eventually, acceptable weather came, and they headed out. 

“It doesn't matter what time of year, it is pretty difficult,” he said. “We got lucky. We got real lucky with the weather. I'll say that.”  

Fuller said there wasn't much time for recreation or sightseeing because they wanted to arrive as soon as possible. However, when they got to New England waters, they were welcomed by much wildlife.  

“We didn't see a ton of sea life until we came to the northern tip of Cape Cod,” he said. “It wasn't until we hit the Gulf of Maine and there was tuna, whales, birds, everything. And it was kind of just like hit a wall coming across the Cape, hit the Gulf of Maine, and we found everything.” 

Back in Boothbay area waters, the boat is the newest acquisition for Fuller Marine Services, and Fuller said they expect it will help meet the demand for marine infrastructure projects. He said their smaller liftboat has been fantastic, but is at capacity.  

The larger one, which is even mid-sized for a liftboat, will help them on bigger commercial and residential projects such as wharves, piers, and aids to navigation. However, he did want to quell rumors about offshore wind, and said the company is not planning any such projects.

Fuller said he looks forward to the company’s growth and wanted to thank his coworkers for the support along the way.  

“You can't even begin to take on a project or an investment like this in the future unless you've got people who are behind it,” he said.