By Mr. B
30 • MAINE SENIORS
Reality and dreams sometimes clash. After nine months of working on the boat, it became clear that Keith’s friend was a bit reluctant to sail the voyage after all. Keith returned home and decided that building and working on boats seemed like a pretty good way to make a living. So, in the late ’70s, he hopped into his 1967 Volkswagen split-window Microbus and headed east. His trip across the country ended up in South Orleans, Massachusetts, attending a boat building school called “The Experience.” Over the next year, Keith learned about building boats from the ground up. When he completed his schooling, he started his search for a job. He wandered up the east coast and landed in Camden, but jobs were not plentiful
PHOTO: JASON PAIGE SMITH PHOTOGRAPHY
Continuing M a Tradition
any families have lived in Maine for over 200 years, while some find their way here through youthful wanderings. Once here, they are attracted by the culture and the sense of community that is found throughout the state in its many small communities. That’s how it happened for Keith Cafferata. Keith grew up in the San Francisco Bay area until he was 17, then went off to school in Colorado. While there, he met a friend whose family owned a sailboat. The sailboat needed some work, so they decided to give it to their son. Keith and his friend shared a youthful vision to fix up the boat, which was moored in Hawaii, and sail the seven seas. Aiming to make their vision into a reality, they left school, and off they went.
