About Us
Annapolis Harbor Boat Yard, located in the Eastport neighborhood of Annapolis, has been a fixture on the Spa Creek waterfront for decades. The only working boatyard located directly on Annapolis Harbor, it continues a local tradition of craftsmanship, service and maritime specialization that dates back to Eastport’s earliest days as a blue-collar boatbuilding and seafaring community.
For the past 11 years our service operations have been managed by Steve’s Yacht Repairs. In late 1999, then-owner Steve Uhtoff approached John Clarke Jr., about becoming a business partner in the yard. A fourth-generation Annapolitan, John made his career in the marine industry, working in all aspects from rigging and sailmaking to boatbuilding. In 2004, John purchased Steve’s Yacht Repair, and he is now sole owner.
John brings to his business a great passion for the water and boats of all types. His yacht racing resume includes wins at Key West Race Week and England’s prestigious Fastnet Race, and he has competed as watch captain on offshore races including Newport-Bermuda and Annapolis-Newport. As his family has grown he has turned more to cruising. He modified and rebuilt a 1978 Peterson 34 into a fast cruising boat easily sailed by two people with all the amenities. He and his wife now own an Australian-designed and built 45-foot steel cutter, on which they recently finished a seven-week New England cruise with their two children. John also loves fishing; he pursues this on his 1977 Bertram 31 and in a 17-foot center-console skiff he rebuilt from the keel up. This wide range of hands-on boating experience gives John a broad knowledge of all types of boats and their systems. He modifies and upgrades his own boats constantly to try out new products and techniques, then uses what he learns to help customers make educated decisions about their own projects. Most importantly, he understands his customers’ passion for their boats and their sport, because he has lived that passion his entire life.
John’s right-hand man is yard manager Tom Schmalenberg, who came to the yard in February 2000 and is in charge of rigging, parts procurement and helping run the day-to-day yard operations. A native of metro Detroit, Tom grew up cruising on his parents’ Corbin 39 cutter throughout the Great Lakes and later began racing out of St. Clair Shores. He competed in ten Port Huron-Mackinac races and a variety of local regattas. He wanted to make his passion for sailing and the water the basis for his career, and he moved to the Chesapeake Bay to accomplish this. Since coming to Annapolis he has been regular crew on several local racing boats on which he has competed both around the buoys and offshore. His sailing experience has given him a thorough knowledge of how boats work and how owners want their boats to perform. He’s presently restoring a Cape Dory Typhoon.
Rounding out the management team is Kevin McPadden, who came to the boatyard in June 2005 from south Florida by way of the Bahamas. A full-time liveaboard on a Tayana 37, he had worked for the Transportation Security Administration managing checkpoint security at Fort Lauderdale International Airport. Before that he had 25 years of customer service experience with USAirways. At Annapolis Harbor Boat Yard, Kevin is the sales and service manager. He’s usually the person you will talk with to schedule work to be done, answer your questions about jobs in progress, and he keeps the lines of communication open.
Coming Soon! Your all in one cruising resource
