Brief
History of Operations
In
1968 Mr. And Mrs. Rose excavated a harbor and canal (which
led out to Westmouth Bay) on their property located on
the north shore of Harkers Island on Bayview Drive (at
that time just a dirt road - and only 2 other families
living on Bayview Drive (beyond the present Rose craft
Marina operation).
In
1970 Mr. Rose (at the age of 31 ), after much deliberation,
resigned from Marine Corps Air Station (Cherry Pt., N.C.)
And went into business for himself building the traditional
“Harkers Island style” wooden boat. All local
boat builders construct boats WITHOUT blueprints - only
simple numbers, often sketched on a piece of scrap plywood
and nailed to a stud. His boats ranged in size from 16
to 35 feet (some open boats - others with cabins; some
designed for outboards - others for marine engines or
diesels). Mrs. Rose was employed part-time by NOAA (at
Beaufort, 18 miles away) and assisted with the paperwork
aspect of this new business.
In
the early 1970’s a larger 30 x 64 feet boathouse
was added onto the original small (16 X 20 ft.) boathouse
so that larger boats could be built. A marine railway
was also built (for boat maintenance and repairs).
Several
times during the late 1970’s, the 1980’s and
the early ‘90’s, the canal and harbor area
were enlarged and boat slips were made available in the
early 90’s.
Canal entry into harbor
Boat
docks and marina
In
the late 1980’s boat building ceased, after
Mr. Rose had built approximately 60 boats. The demand
for wooden boats decreased as demand for fiberglass
boats increased (even among some of the locals).
The marine railways continued to operate. It was
during this period of boat building being on the
decline that the Roses gradually went into the vacation
rental business, starting off with one mobile home
- and a year or so later adding a second wooden
structure. Mrs. Rose managed this aspect of the
business (while still working part-time for NOAA).
During
the early 1990’s the Roses operated a small soft-shell
crab shedding operations (operating for about 3-4 consecutive
years). Also during the 1990’s they added 2 more
vacation rentals. Improvements were made to the property
especially during the late 90’s including a public
rest room, fish cleaning station, landscaping improvements,
etc. For two seasons during the 90’s a passenger
ferry operated from the premises to Cape lookout.
Mrs.
Rose retired from NOAA in 1995 and devotes much of her
time to the vacation rentals, while Mr. Rose maintains
the boat slips/docks and vacation rentals - and together
they plan and build add-ons/renovations to the units.
