BACKSPACE: Yachtsmen turned to local fishermen for their victory crews

The Ark was first a family home, then a boardinghouse where several members of the New York Yacht Club summered. Photo courtesy of Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Collection.

Oct. 19, 2026

DEER ISLE — The Haskells were early Deer Isle settlers, and in 1793, Squire Ignatius Haskell, owner of a sailing loft and shipbuilding business, built a house that remained in the Haskell family until 1942.

In the 1890s, William Haskell, a sea captain, and his wife, Elizabeth, opened a boardinghouse in the family home, which they named The Ark. 

In 1915, Capt. Haskell and his crew perished at sea off Cape Hatteras, but Elizabeth continued to operate the Ark. Their son Stacy Benjamin, who, as a boy, took boarders out for rides and fishing, then ran the boardinghouse after Elizabeth died. 

A number of New York Yacht Club members summered on Deer Isle in the 1890s. C. Oliver Iselin, a member of the syndicate that owned four America's Cup vessels, stayed at The Ark. The yachtsmen watched with admiration as the local fishermen raced their sailboats into the harbor at the end of their workday. 

The locals' sailing skills were so impressive that the owners of the America's Cup boats turned to them for their crews. The Defender in 1895 and Columbia in 1899 were sailed to victory by Deer Isle crews, among whom was Philip Haskell, Stacy Benjamin’s older brother.

The Ark was briefly renamed the Pilgrim's Inn, but is now back to its original name. It also serves dinner throughout the summer and early fall and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“BACKSPACE” is a partnership between the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport and The Rising Tide that showcases the unique coastal and maritime history of our towns in and around the Blue Hill Peninsula. For more information about the Penobscot Marine Museum, please visit their website.