Mike Demonte
Mike Demonte was born in Mola di Bari, Italy, and the youngest of 11 sons. When Mike was 14 years old, he decided he did not want to go to school anymore. His father signed him up to leave home to earn a living on the fishing boats. Mike stayed on the sea for the next 5 years, traveling to many ports in and around Italy and Malta.
At the age of 20, Mike arrived in New York, and made his living as a butcher for the next 35 years, never forgetting his love of the sea and ships. His love of ships is evident in his painstaking building of large scale ships from blueprints that were obtained in Italy.
In between working full-time as a butcher, raising a family, and owning his own contracting business, Mike would continue to work on his ships and also make beautiful oil paintings, when time permitted. Mike retired fully in 2007 and moved to North Carolina in 2008 and he is now able to devote much of his time to his passion- building ships and painting. Mike lives in Leland, North Carolina with his wife of 38 years and is enjoying his retirement.
