In 1901, Obed Ham established his shipyard on Main Street, just down the harbour from the Ernst yard. The yard focused on the design and production of custom-built pleasure craft, ranging from a 16-foot catboat to a 128-foot yacht. Ham retired in 1932 after building over 400 vessels. Obed Ham, written up in his time as “the genius of Mahone”, was Nova Scotia’s first builder of pleasure yachts, a trend that continued in Mahone Bay until 1975 when Paceship Yachts closed.