A little history on Midland 19 (2024)

My dad was a fisherman, known for his boat building skills. Every winter in the 50s and 60s, when fishing was slow he would start to build a strip planked boat from 25' to 46', in a shed next to our house to be completed by spring.

In 1964, Byron Crowe, owner of Crowe Rope stop by to sell some rope..at that time worked a lot on the road selling his product. He ask my dad if he was interested in building a 19' boat to be used as a plug for a friend of his. My dad told him he was to busy right then to do it.

Byron talks to his brother Robert, who was just starting his company Marine Hydraulics Engineering, and he suggest a builder up in Maine.

The boat was started in Maine but never finished, enter my dad again. I remember a partially finished cedar strip planked hull on a flat bed trailer delivered to our shed in RI. It was fastened to a cradle made of rough sawn 2" pine.

After we lowered the bow a little,the hull was taken to Coventry, RI, where a mold was made. The hull was brought back to our shop where we made the top deck and fore deck. Louie Quillmette the owner of Midland Boat wanted something distinguishing on boat and we came up with the arrow on the fore deck...actually it was supposed to simulate an anchor...but most people refer to it as an arrow.

The plug was able to be saved and was used for years, quahogging in Narragansett Bay. I last saw working in Barrington during the 80s.

Here is a little funny little connection, Andrew Crowe and Sons, Byron Crowe, Robert Crowe and Louie Quillmette all started business as lace manufacturers in RI. The lace business was very dependent on the fashion industry, so thats why they decided to go on to other options. Funny how they all made it to the fishing industry.

Thanks for the history Al!

The guy I bought my 19' from told me that he and his uncle bought their two 19's (with cuddys)in the fall of 1982. They borrowed a flat bed and a car trailer to pick them up in Coventry. Their boats were sitting out in the grass along with several other boats waiting to be picked up. They took them back to CT where they spent the next several weeks putting in a plywood bulkhead to close in their cuddys, a console for the controls and to hold a 10" hydraulic pop hauler. The motors were fitted by a dealer in Noank Ct and then taken to a place near Warrick ( I forgot the name) for the hydraulic pump and lines to be fitted on the outboard. The uncle used his boat for lobstering and clamming. The Seller used his for lobstering and rec fishing. He said he used to run out to Block island a couple times a week during the summer and never worried about the boat getting him back home even on the worst days. His Uncle died some years ago and that boat was last seen in NJ. When I restored mine I kept it as original looking as possible except I got rid of the pot hauler and put a spoked wheel on her. I still have his long expired CT fishing license plate on it.

During the 60s & 70s, there were quite a few Midland 19s used for bullraking quohogs. My younger brother had one, until I built him the Midland 20.6. His 19 was power by 70hp Johnson and could easily handle 1000lbs of quohogs.

You know that rough sawn 2" pine cradle I mention earlier. I salvaged it to make a coffee table. I was 16 years old at the time, had a lot of swamp yankee in me, couldn't seen anything go to waste.

Still in use today.

My 1989 Midland 19....wondering when they stopped building these...having a blast with this one.

WOT is 33.5 KTS. Boat feels great between 19-25kts. Starts to feel a bit light when coming up on 30kts. Great thing about these is they are just as much fun doing 5 KTS creeping around in shallow creeks & running up on the beach.....

Just unwrapped my 19 recently, I had it stored up in NY while I built my house here in Wilmington NC. Perfect boat for the waters here but I have been getting my ass roasted by the sun while out in the boat. Money isn't there to spend over $2k for a nice welded top for the boat. So I utilized some car tent corners I had saved and bought some chain link fence top rail and end caps along with a 6x8 tarp and zip ties to make a $ 60 canopy. Looks goofy on a low sided boat,but man it is the sh*t for shade!

Midland 20.6

Hi guys, I just got a 20.6 this season and I love it. I also love reading about the history of these hulls.
My 20.6 has had the floor done over a few times, for different commercial applications, but is nice and solid. I am looking forward to moving the doghouse back a little, and maybe replacing some of the deck.
This boat came w/ a 115 optimax, and seems to be a nice match. I have been wondering about trying a different pitch prop, it has a 13.75x15p and was
probably matched to handle big loads.
Does anyone have any advice on prop selection ?
Also, I am really curious about what the basic hull weighs, I can tell it was built w/ heavy glass, and read about it being cedar.
Thanks guys, Dean

sockeye said:

Was there a 22' version of the Midland 19? Did it become the Cuttyhunk Harris 22?

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Hi Sockeye, I made the plug and mold for the 22' Midland back in 1979 in my Dad's building up in Exeter, RI. The plug was made of native 1 1/4" x 3/4" cedar strips. The whole hull was turned upside done and fiber-glassed with three layers of 1 1/2 oz mat.

Next step was to bring it to Midland Boat Co. in Coventry, RI. where I spent days days sanding the plug before I made the mold. I was very fortunate to be able to release the plug from the mold without any damage.

I then took the plug, remove the inside forms and added three more layers of 1 1/2 oz mat. After making the top-deck, I made a mold of that to use on the Midland 22'.

I Allgriped the hull and installed a Volvo-Penta inboard-outboard. I used the boat for quahogging in Narragansett Bay for three years, when I sold to and guy in Vermont who used it for setting ell pots on Lake Champlain.

BOSBoatMan said:

"End of ramp" - is not really the end of the ramp (DAFUQ?)

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It is short as it looks. This is on the Cape Fear River about 50 river miles inland. The ramp is pretty short and shallow during low tide. It drops off about 5' about a foot past that sign. The ebb tide runs strong on that patch of river I've been told it will grab the boat and trailer and drag the truck in with it if you run the trailer off the end of the ramp.

Wptdeno said:

Hi guys, I just got a 20.6 this season and I love it. I also love reading about the history of these hulls.
My 20.6 has had the floor done over a few times, for different commercial applications, but is nice and solid. I am looking forward to moving the doghouse back a little, and maybe replacing some of the deck.
This boat came w/ a 115 optimax, and seems to be a nice match. I have been wondering about trying a different pitch prop, it has a 13.75x15p and was
probably matched to handle big loads.
Does anyone have any advice on prop selection ?
Also, I am really curious about what the basic hull weighs, I can tell it was built w/ heavy glass, and read about it being cedar.
Thanks guys, Dean

Click to expand...

Can't help you with the prop other than I found a four blade performs better than a 3 on my boat. Supposedly the 4 blade lifts the stern YMMV
We need to see pics of your boat!

Saturday morning recliner....Midland style

pyrofan said:

Hi Sockeye, I made the plug and mold for the 22' Midland back in 1979 in my Dad's building up in Exeter, RI. The plug was made of native 1 1/4" x 3/4" cedar strips. The whole hull was turned upside done and fiber-glassed with three layers of 1 1/2 oz mat.

Next step was to bring it to Midland Boat Co. in Coventry, RI. where I spent days days sanding the plug before I made the mold. I was very fortunate to be able to release the plug from the mold without any damage.

I then took the plug, remove the inside forms and added three more layers of 1 1/2 oz mat. After making the top-deck, I made a mold of that to use on the Midland 22'.

I Allgriped the hull and installed a Volvo-Penta inboard-outboard. I used the boat for quahogging in Narragansett Bay for three years, when I sold to and guy in Vermont who used it for setting ell pots on Lake Champlain.

Click to expand...

Love the pics and ray chase moving it, David was probably in diapers?

RKrough said:

Can't help you with the prop other than I found a four blade performs better than a 3 on my boat. Supposedly the 4 blade lifts the stern YMMV
We need to see pics of your boat!

Click to expand...

Thanks for that prop advice bud, I will get a pic up asap !

22' Midland

Albert. Thanks for the great pictures and explanation on the 22'. The 22 was a great boat.