GRATITUDE
“Yeah, just wanted a schooner.” Sometimes the reason for building a boat is as simple as Andrew Rhodenizer put it. The Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, boatbuilder works in the Big Boat Shed, where the legendary schooner BLUENOSE was built in 1921. Andrew took the inspiration for his schooner from other boatbuilders in his family, among them a cousin, Jim Rhodenizer, and his step-grandfather, Steve Slaunwhite, who designed and built Tancook schooners. Andrew’s schooner measures 26' 6" on deck with a sparred length of 31' and beam of 8'. Her hull is carvel-planked with pine over frames of locust and hackmatack. The project started with harvesting materials in the woods and moved forward in between other projects with the help of a few Big Boat Shed hands. Finished with linseed-oil paint, GRATITUDE was launched in summer 2025 in time for the annual Nova Scotia Schooner Association races.