Sam Fuller just bought his first boat and has partnered with Nick Muto on a new business venture.
If you talk to any fisherman on the Cape they can tell you all the owners of a fishing vessel, where it was built, who fished on it, if her name changed. The boats are windows into the history, present and future of the Cape’s fleets.
Take the Mary Alice, bought in Gloucester by Sam Linnell, who sold her to Sam Fuller (a long-time crew man on Linnell’s uncle’s boat) when he bought a bigger boat, the Great Pumpkin, owned by Jan Margeson.
As our lead story delves into, Fuller, working with Nick Muto, then revamped the gillnet boat to go lobstering. And they added an engine from Mike Abdow’s charter boat, Magic, after he bought a new one. See photos of the partnership and the launch of the new Mary Alice here.
Sam Fuller has worked with his new business partner, Nick Muto, before. They crossed paths on the F/V Lori B., which was once owned by Matt Linnell who Fuller crewed for since he was 19.
Fuller bought the F/V Mary Alice from Sam Linnell (Matt Linnell’s nephew) when Sam Linnell bought another, bigger, boat in the fleet: F/V Great Pumpkin.
For more than a decade, Fuller spent half the year as an EMT and on ski patrol (working with explosives to reduce the threat of avalanches) in Colorado and New Zealand before coming back to the Cape full time in 2016. The picture above is at the Remarkables in New Zealand.
After a few back surgeries and other life changes, Fuller decided to segue out of gillnetting to lobstering. He has spent the last several months redoing the Mary Alice.
Along with Muto, Fuller has had help from his dad, Jon, a builder in Chatham. His dad helped rebuild the pilot house and is helping heft the muffler here.
Sam chats with Mike Abdow, of Magic Charters, who dropped by to see the launch of the new Mary Alice, which has his old engine.
Nick backs the boat up after making a few on the water engine repairs.
There are always last minute adjustments. The quip was that they were happy they didn’t have to work on the boat anymore – on land.
And the Mary Alice is on her way, heading from Ryder’s Cove to the Chatham Fish Pier.