Putting a Face to a Name

After several weeks of searching, I’ve finally found a picture of the man who built the Betselma. Ralph E. Wooster built boats for the Camden Shipyard in Maine during the 1940s and presumably until he died. Not much is known about this man at all, there is little to no information about him. The Betselma herself was built at the Steamboat Landing in Camden in 1945, but she wasn’t register with the Coast Guard until 1962. That’s a 17 year gap that no one knows what Wooster did with the boat. It’s presumed that she sat in dry dock for a while or Wooster only captained her on the weekends. It’s very settling being able to put a face to the name of the man who built the Betselma. In the middle of June (1945) Camden Cruises started their excursions, with Captain Ralph Wooster at the helm of the Wildfire and Captain Gustave Gundersen in command of the Gallant. Credit goes to the the Stormy Bok Collection of the Walsh History Center at the Camden Public Library for the photograph. Mr. Wooster is the man in the middle.