Nice piece by Bill Wagner in the Capital today about the passing of Bert Jabin, founder of the eponymous Annapolis boatyard. We do not have details on his memorial service yet, but we will pass them along as soon as we do.
"Annapolis lost one of the legendary figures on its maritime scene when yacht yard owner and sailor Bert Jabin died Saturday. He was 83.
Jabin, who had been splitting time between homes in Annapolis and Miami, had long been battling cancer...
Bert Jabin’s Yacht Yard opened in 1959 on a small plot overlooking Back Creek. It was a completely undeveloped parcel and Jabin had to sink pylons, build piers and clear trees in order to have space to work on dry-docked boats.
“Bert called the old yard ‘Junk Jungle Lane’ and even had that name listed as home port on the transom of his sailboats for a while,” Decker said.
Over time, Jabin acquired 14 different lots that either adjoined the original piece of property or one another. By the early 1980s, Bert Jabin’s Yacht Yard was a sprawling 20-acre complex — the largest facility of its kind in Annapolis.
“Bert came to Annapolis with nothing and built an empire. He worked extremely hard and earned everything he got,” Decker said."
