The Company 
Current Ownership
Marc Bourgoin and Ponch Membreno met at the Chewonki Foundation in the early 90's. They were beginning their careers as Environmental Educators and Wilderness Trip Leaders. They became friends with similar interests and similar perspectives. Somewhere along the line, they were teaching a course to train prospective leaders for certification. It was the first time they had been asked to work together, and their peers had doubts about the partnership. On top of Avery Peak in the Bigelow Mountains - during a course they both remember as one of the best they had been a part of, they hinted for the first time to each other about one day "putting something together."
Marc went on to form Compass Rose Expeditions and continued his career as one of Maine's top-tier Sea Kayak and River Guides. Later, he practiced his sales skills as National Sales Rep for Boreal Design and later as a top sales rep for Johnson Outdoors. At the same time, Compass Rose Expeditions became one of the most respected outfitters on the Maine Coast. He then realized, as sometimes happens to folks working for bigger companies, that he really wanted to step back and focus on cultivating a passionate paddling community. As a Maine native, Marc had always hoped to build a Maine-based business.
Ponch left Chewonki to do Graduate work in Environmental Education and Non-profit management - sure that his whole life would be spent working for change and only for Non-profits. That lasted until he was hired by Patagonia and realized that some companies create a great deal of change and "good" by being good corporate citizens and employers. After opening stores for Patagonia, he moved on to work as a Director of an out-of-hospital Birthing Center and caught the bug of entrepreneurship. He was hired as one of 5 people working for Horny Toad at the time,opening their store in Freeport, ME and later moved out to Santa Barbara,CA to join the rest of the Senior Managers. Missing the Maine Coast, his family moved back to Maine. After a few years back in Maine, it was finally time to step out on his own.
Marc called with the idea of buying Lincoln Canoe & Kayak. It was perfect timing. Together with Marc's brother, Ron, the planning started. A year and a half of negotiations later, the business was theirs. When they looked around, they found a solid brand, some good and very light-weight boat designs, and a team of experienced boat builders.
From there, the hope is to bring this 50 year old brand back to prominence. They've now heard plenty of stories of some 30 year old Lincoln canoe that someone found in Grandma's barn. They intend to create some great new stories. Their combined backgrounds in education and leadership inspire them to create and grow community.
The plans for Lincoln Canoe & Kayak include forming Lincoln Outdoor Center from the ashes of Compass Rose Expeditions. LOC will grow the paddling community through lessons, clinics, tours and expeditions. The plan also includes the creation of Maine Kayak Source - which distributes Lincoln brand boats as well as Boreal Design Kayaks to paddling shops throughout the U.S.
Our Simple Mission
As the new owners and caretakers of this 50-year-old brand, we will continue to make high-quality composite canoes and kayaks here in Maine. We intend to bring a sense of leadership, creativity, authenticity, and thoughtfulness to everything we do.
Play Local
One day we were thinking of ways we could communicate what our retail showroom represents. We realized how lucky we are to live and work on the Coast of Maine - most everyone on our coast can get in or on the water within 10 minutes of their home - including those in our most densely populated cities and towns. In the winter, almost all of us can strap on some snowshoes, XC-skis, or skates and go for it right out our front or back doors. While many of us in the shop enjoy far-flung adventuring in different environments, we want to inspire people to get out and enjoy their home base. Our employees are brimming with local knowledge and hope you all share your "play local" experiences with us.
Prior to Current ownership
Lincoln Canoe & Kayak had it's humble beginnings in Lincoln, Massachusetts in 1959. It was started by two young college students who had spent a summer in northern Canada on a wilderness canoe trip. Their craft was an 80-pound, 18-foot aluminum canoe, which was state-of-the-art at the time. As they paddled and trudged along, they thought there must be a better way to build a canoe - one that would be lighter and easier to handle. Upon returning home, they decided to tackle their idea.
Fiberglass was the new material on the scene and the method of choice, thus the Lincoln canoe was born. Through the years, Lincoln has passed through different ownership groups. Each has put its own stamp on the brand though none has been more important to the boat designs than Sandy Martin. The most recent prior owner, Sandy is responsible for most of the design ideas and process you see in our boats today. Our boats are hand crafted of Fiberglass, Kevlar or Carbon Fiber, through a proprietary process - making them some of the lightest, if not the lightest in each category. Lincoln continues to lead the way in using the latest technologies and materials to create some of the finest small craft made.