Erin Tokarz
The Apprenticeshop in Rockland, Maine, this year completed its largest project yet, a multiyear reconstruction of a Dublin Bay 24 sloop for an Irish client.
In the 1960s and early ’70s, anyone fascinated by traditional boatbuilding or small-craft design soon found that resources were few. It was a restless generation, one that resisted conventionalism; these people were unlikely to line up for job-training programs geared toward the needs of industrial shipyards, and for many the thought of fiberglass hull layup held little appeal. But it was also a time of rediscovery, especially of traditional skills and the work of artisans—organic gardening, roots music, craft beer, handcrafted furniture, simple living. Amid this renaissance, wooden boatbuilding was a compelling and unique combination of head and hand skills, and there was real beauty in it. But without relatives or a community directly involved in boats, there seemed no entry, no clear path, no place to go.