Arthur “Art” Hupper was one of the hardest workers on the St. George Peninsula. According to his son David, throughout the 1960s and 1970s, a day of work for Art was just that—nearly 24 hours of labor. He would buy lobsters on remote Maine islands like Monhegan and Matinicus and then sell the catch to out-of-state seafood buyers, all on the same day.
It was a livelihood that relied not only on a strong work ethic, but also on a specially crafted lobster transport boat known as a “smack” boat.
Smack boats have been used in Maine for nearly 200 years and were once characterized by their live wells that allowed seawater to circulate through a portion of the hull, keeping the catch alive during transport. However, since the advancement of refrigeration technology, the term “smack” is applied to all-encompassing seafood transport vessels.
In Maine, a smack boat is essentially a lobster buying company, but instead of using a wharf, business is conducted on the deck of the boat. They tie up in harbors and transact directly with the lobster boats—selling bait to the lobstermen and buying their catch.
Arthur Hupper’s smack was a classic wooden vessel named Bajupa, and she still catches the eye of those who see her underway.
“He had quite a lot of pop,” David Hupper recalls of his father. “He would get up early in the morning, run Bajupa to Matinicus, deliver bait, load up the lobsters, and bring her back to shore.”
And that was just the first half of his day.
Bajupa used to transport upwards of 300 of crates of lobster. Most fit below deck in the “fish hole.” On particularly good days, more crates would be stacked above deck. Never known for her speed, especially when encumbered by hundreds of lobster crates, Bajupa rarely exceeds 10 knots, making for long days on the water.
“He would return home in time for supper, go to bed for three or four hours, get up in the middle of the night, and drive the lobsters down to Boston to be there when the seafood dealer opened at 4 a.m. And when he got down there, my father unloaded that truck by himself,” David remembers.
Hupper saw an opportunity in off-shore lobsters, coveted by seafood dealers because the crustaceans farther out to sea are larger and more hearty. Hupper became the middleman between the island fishing fleets and the city seafood dealers who would then ship the lobsters around the world. He founded his own company, Art’s Lobsters. His Tenants Harbor dock was his base of operations, and Bajupa was his steed.
At 50-feet long, Bajupa was constructed in 1946 with oak and Southern Yellow Pine by Bass Harbor boat builder Robert Rich for Jim Pease, then owner of Rackliff and Witham Lobster Company. Pease would not name her after one of his three daughters, Barbara, Judy, or Patricia; instead, he named her after all three: Ba-Ju-Pa.
Bajupa’s hull resembles that of a dragger, but built wider for storage. She has always done what she was made to do, buy and transport lobsters, although she has had different runs and a several owners through the years. The Hupper family purchased her in the 1960s, and David’s childhood was largely shaped by the storied boat.
In 1970, David’s older brothers enlisted in the U.S. Navy, leaving their father with no crew to do his island runs. It was time for 12-year-old David to step up. That is—step up onto the stool that his uncle made so he could see over Bajupa’s wheel as he steered.
“My dad taught me how to steer by compass,” he remembers. “I would steer her all the way out to Matinicus and back. That was the first place I ever ran a boat.”
Art’s Lobster bought lobster and sold bait just like a mainland lobster company, but more than that, Hupper and Bajupa were a service for—and sometimes a lifeline to—the island communities. In advance of trips, islanders compiled a list of necessities for Hupper to acquire on the mainland, load onto Bajupa, and haul to the island. When she arrived in the harbor, she was likely to be unloading bait, propane tanks, and booze.
“For many years, the island fishermen would pull up to Bajupa, sell their lobsters, and about 80% of them would leave with a jug of hard alcohol under their arms,” David says before letting out a belly laugh. This tidbit he shares only because the conspirators in this operation have passed away and cannot be charged with bootlegging.
More than just a means of transporting goods, Bajupa may have once saved an islander’s life. A young boy on Criehaven fell off a stack of lobster traps and badly injured his head. He was in desperate need of medical attention, but the Criehaven fleet was fogged in, and this was before most fishermen had radar to navigate their boats in low-visibility conditions.
Bajupa was one of the first boats in the area to be outfitted with the technology. Knowing this, islanders sent Hupper a distress call over the radio, and he headed to the island as quickly as he could. He then guided the lobsterman and his injured son back to Tenants Harbor where an ambulance was waiting.
After many good years, Hupper sold the family business in 1975. He passed away in 2007 at the age of 78. David Hupper still fishes for lobster out of St. George and sells his catch to Art’s Lobsters in Tenants Harbor, the lobster company his father founded.
As for Bajupa, she has since served three different lobster dealers. Today, she is owned by MKM Island Lobster Inc., a business run by Marty Molloy and his wife Jody. Bajupa continued her runs to Matinicus until 2018, when Molloy decided to give her a less strenuous route.
Molloy’s newer smack boat, Liberty Risk II, has taken over the Matinicus run, and Bajupa now travels between the Rockland municipal fish pier and the Fox Island Thorofare where it is used to purchase lobster from North Haven fishermen.
Her essential functions are the same as when she was first constructed, only at a smaller scale. She makes her runs from May until November, and on good days, transports up to 50 crates of lobster.
“Boats like her, there aren’t many left,” Molloy says. “She was custom made to do just what she’s doing, and she does it proficiently.”
Bajupa has undergone several modifications in recent years. Her wheelhouse was replaced, and she received several upgrades in 2005 when she was up for Coast Guard inspection. Molloy invested in replacing several ribs due to rot, installed a 300-hp John Deere engine, and coated the hull with fiberglass for reinforcement.
He has more upgrades planned and believes replacing her deck could keep her in operation for a couple more decades, perhaps even until she turns 100 in 2046.
Bajupa has done more for the Maine coast than collect lobsters. She has also been a character in countless stories and has impacted many lives. Molloy sounds proud to be her current guardian.
“When we’re down working on Bajupa at the boatyard, everybody stops by and wants to talk about her. They all have stories. Everyone’s got a Bajupa story.”
Jack Sullivan is a multimedia storyteller for Island Institute.
