I helped my grandparents maintain their fleet from the mid 60's to the mid 70's. In the spring we cleaned, painted and inspected the boats before pushing them into the channel. These were hand-made open wooden boats, so they need a lot of maintenance. They must be seaworthy and safe for guests. The hand-made oars must be sturdy and without flaws...as they may be needed by a stranded fisherman with motor trouble. In the summer we continued the inspections and bailed the water that collected with every rainstorm. We pulled the bow of the boat on top of the dock which caused the water to pool up in the back near the transom. This made it easier to bail the water with our coffee cans. In the fall we pulled them out of the water for winter storage. We used a small dozer to pull them from the water into the storage area...as these were not flimsy craft. They had a 'deep-v' configuration with a giant hand tooled oak keel running the length. They were 16 feet long (not the 14 foot described in the Globe article). They had oak ribs...bent in an improvised steam chamber, oak running boards and gunwales. When the boat was in the water, I could stand on the gunwale and the boat would barely list. The design was of the type of fishing boat used in the Gulf of Bothnia off the coasts of Sweden and Finland.
As a kid I felt kind of proud to help with the operations at the Agate Shop. Now I feel fortunate I had such life experiences and can share. As many will reflect...our lives are full of routine experiences that don't take on significance until years later.
We have looked at the attached summertime photo in other posts. It is one of my favorites.
As a kid I felt kind of proud to help with the operations at the Agate Shop. Now I feel fortunate I had such life experiences and can share. As many will reflect...our lives are full of routine experiences that don't take on significance until years later.
We have looked at the attached summertime photo in other posts. It is one of my favorites.
No comments:
Post a Comment