Nat Wilson is very well known for his sailmaking. For just shy of 50 years he has been building and repairing  sails for an extraordinary number of sailing vessels from around the world. He has produced over 2,600 sail plans and worked on tens of thousands of sails. His work and reputation are exceeded only by his good looks and charming personality.

My first opportunity to work with Nat occurred back when he developed a very cool line of bags built with sail material. They were a smash hit completely equipped with special hardware and Nat’s traditional typeface logo. We still have ours and use it quite frequently – they are very durable. But Nat had better things to do and was plenty more than busy with his sail business.

Now, after all these years, Nathaniel S. Wilson, Sailmaker, is transitioning to Sherman S. Brewer, Sailmaker. Sherm will be carrying on the operation out of Nat’s old space at 15 Lincoln St. in East Boothbay. Sherm has been with Nat off and on, but mostly on, for about 10 years. 

His tenure began in high school during a lackluster stretch of education when he almost set sail himself were it not for the miraculous intervention of the one and only Joyce Sirois, who created a work study program of Applied Nautical Science and a regular schedule with Nat at the sail loft right next door to her home in East Boothbay. Truth be known, Mrs. Sirois saw with different eyes the needs of students who were challenged by academics and the rigors of classroom learning. One of our daughters benefited from her magic, for which we will be eternally grateful.

Sherm is no stranger to the maritime world. His father, Maynard Brewer, has lobstered for years and still goes to sea from time to time with commercial ships. Sherm worked with him off and on during his growing up years, and went lobstering at age 12 out of a skiff and acquiring a lobstering license. As a sophomore in high school, he joined “Ocean Classroom” aboard the Harvey Gamage, a teaching vessel. After high school, Sherm attended Northeast Maritime in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, to earn his captain’s license. He has a 100-ton Captain and 200-ton mate’s license and soon hopes to advance to higher levels.

Sailing really got a hold on him during his classic yacht experiences aboard the Wood’s Hole, SEA vessel Corwith Crameer as first mate. Additional work aboard the 172-foot, German-built Eye of the Wind sort of clinched the sail experience during  a six month “cruise” and an Atlantic crossing. During his 10-year tenure with Nat Wilson, he worked on sails for many classic sailing ships. His portfolio records work on the Victory Chimes, Pride of Baltimore, Corwith Cramer, Lynx, Grace Bailey and many more. His crowning build to date would be the seven-month, 10-sail, approximately 9,500 square foot project for the Ernestina Morrissey, constructed at the local Bristol Marine yard in Boothbay Harbor.

Sherm is well prepared and eager to continue the work he has come to love.  His website address is www.shermanbrewersailmaker.com for contact information. It will be fun to see what comes next as he follows on the great tradition of his mentor and friend Nathaniel Wilson, who he affectionately refers to as “The Boss.”