Archie Ross

Archie Elbert Ross (March 8, 1924 – February 24, 2002) was an American sea captain and shipwright. He was captain of the ferry which runs between Bustins Island and South Freeport, Maine, for over fifty years. Bustins Island's public landing is now named for him.

Life and career Ross was born in Massachusetts in 1924 to Eli Freeman Ross and Marie Lavinia Hatfield. He was raised on Chebeague Island, Maine, which was then part of Cumberland. He began his working life, until the outbreak of World War II, as a deckhand aboard the ferry Nellie G, which ran between Falmouth Foreside and Cousins Island, Littlejohn Island and Chebeague Island during the high seasons. During the war, he captained boats for Captain William V. Benson from Portland to the military installations in Casco Bay. He was also the island's mail carrier until 1997. The residents of Bustins Island raised funds for a replacement ferry, which he named the Marie L, after his mother.

During winters, he enlisted as a merchant marine. He also worked on the old Portland Pilot boat until 1963, as well as building wooden boats as part-owner (with Carroll Lowell) of Even Keel Boatyard in Yarmouth, Maine. Their last vessel was the Calliope in 1989.