Shipyard Stories

  • Viking Funeral Ship

    So, at his memorial service he wanted a Viking ship to burn.  His only real stipulation was that it had to be longer than his friend’s memorial ship had been. I figured eight feet was a good length. I was working completely without plans, just putting something together that looked right.
  • So Your Boat's Out of the Water

                  As a shipwright, shipyard worker, yard rat, whatever you want to call it, I have seen a thousand boat bottoms.  Many of them were yea...
  • My Wood Boat Problem

    Hi! My name is Pat and I have a wood boat problem. Not a little delicate refined one either. No cedar strip canoes or tiny little sailboats or dinghies or the glossy gorgeous creations that sail the warmer climes or race across lakes . . . though they all have their pull.
  • This Shouldn't Take Long . . .

    “There’s a soft spot under the sponson on the starboard side, midships.  Can you fix it?  Oh, and I gotta be fishing in two weeks.”               I...
  • My Checkered History with Boats and Shipyards

                  I was about 5 the first time I can remember a shipyard, smelling of oakum and Old Sailor copper paint.               I was born and r...