Meet Captain Rick Hall, President of Portland Marine Society

by
Jack Reynolds

In 1796  shipmasters understood too well the odds of pitting  a fragile wooden vessel against an angry ocean.  In some New England towns up to a third of its seamen could perish in the course of a single bad year.  Their widows understood the reality of family survival when the breadwinner failed to return.  In June of that year a group of Portland skippers decided to do something about it and the Portland Marine Society, Portland's oldest professional organization, was born. Its founding shipmasters settled on two goals.  "The promotion of navigation  knowledge, and the relief of decayed seamen and the widows of deceased seamen."

As the Society focuses on its third century, however,  shipwrecks are less lethal and maritime academies have taken over navigational education.  It's time to move on says PMS 1998-1999 president, Captain Rick Hall.   Under his guidance the PMS mission has expanded to include maritime education and preservation of the city's maritime history.

Like many fellow members of the society, Rick is an experienced ship master. The society's roster includes marine engineers,  navigation officers, and other maritime industry professionals.  Fresh out of Maine Maritime Academy in 1953, Rick took a third mate's billet with Farrell Line.  Except for a two year tour of navy duty, his seafaring career spanned 33 years on Farrell Line routes from US east coast ports to Africa and Mediterranean Sea ports.

"When Farrell bought up the American Export Line's routes I took the African Dawn on a 60 day voyage that showed the Farrell Line house flag in just about every port in the Mediterranean, said Rick. "We even made it up into the Black Sea for calls at a couple of Turkish tobacco ports.  My last 8 years with Farrell were spent on the Mediterranean run." Since retirement in 1987, he has actively supported both the Boston Marine Society as a board member and the Portland Marine Society.

    During Rick's tenure as president, the  Portland Marine Society has opened its purse to seed a lobbying effort for Port of Portland improvements, and to fund local maritime historical and educational institutions.  Rick  points to the Society's support for restoration of Portland Observatory  as a highlight of his presidency. A year ago the 200 year old wooden marine signal station atop Munjoy Hill was nearing collapse.  Completely restored to its original condition, it will reopen to the public in June of 2000.

"Like the Boston Marine Society, the Portland Marine Society was founded in 1797 for  the welfare of widows of seamen in dire need, but those days are pretty much gone," Rick  said.  "The money has been building it and some of it should be spent on  preserving the Portland maritime tradition.  I got the Observatory restoration campaign kicked off with $10,000  seed money from the Boston Marine Society.  Of course they have a lot more money than we do, but I'm glad that Portland Marine Society voted to match Boston's $10,000. The observatory is the last one in the world and it had to be saved."

Another 1999 Portland Marine Society donation of   $6000 gift will  support Portland Harbor Museum's showcasing of the port's lively history and on-going activity.  "I guess my two proudest accomplishment are the PMS votes to support the Observatory and the museum," he said. "The museum dovetails very well with our goal to preserve the port's history."

Rick is upbeat about the future of the Port of Portland.  In the first year of his presidency, the society joined ten other organizations with a contribution to build a $3000 fund to lobby the Maine legislature for a transportation bond issue that included an appropriation for a major overhaul of the Portland waterfront.  The bill went to referendum and passed.  Portland's cruise ships will dock in the Old Port and a modernized International Terminal will soon speed containerized Maine goods overseas.  "I think the port has a good chance to prosper," he said.  "Jeff Monroe the port director is doing a great job of making it  happen."

Closer to the the Portland Marine Society founders original support of navigation education is an annual PMS scholarship granted to students at Maine Maritime Academy.  "Many Society members are graduates of the school and we try to support them," said Rick.  "This  year $6000 was appropriated.   Each year it depends on how much we have left in the till after we get our work done.  It has gone as high as $10,000."

Thanks to his wife, Lois's,  fear of flying, Rick's seagoing days did not end with retirement.  He and Lois have chalked up 13 Caribbean cruises and a 1997 retrospective freighter voyage to South Africa.  On her first freighter cruise aboard the Farrell Line freighter, Argonaut, Lois never missed an evening as head guest at the captain's table.

'When the union and the Farrell Line finally agreed to let wives go along on the ship I think the ink wasn't even dry on the contract when Lois had her bags packed." Rick said.   "She was the second woman in the US to take advantage of it.  She was a great sailor---made four trips with me and loved it."

When asked about advice for Portland Marine Society's incoming president, Rick puts the emphasis on youth and activity. "Bring in younger members who have an interest in the sea," he says.  Stay in the forefront of worthwhile project, keep on pushing our educational program and keep the Society in the public eye.   Above all, stay active, we can't just sit back.  That's how organizations die."

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