How Six People Got Their Starts in Boats
I first sailed as a baby with my grand parents, hanging from the overhead in a bouncy chair in the saloon of their John Alden–designed Coastwise cruiser. When I was a toddler, my grandfather made me a boat-shaped block of wood out of 2×4 stock that I would drag from a long piece of string behind the boat while we sailed on Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay. I don’t know if it was the piece of wood dancing merrily in the waves, or my early days in BIG CHUM with my family, but neural pathways fired, joy seized my three-year old heart, and I was hooked. Later in life my grandfather would claim that I got my interest in wooden boats from him.
On the following pages are the stories of how a diverse group of six people got their starts in boats. One of them, Kaj Huld, cut his teeth as an offshore sailor on a six-year trip to the Caribbean; he said you don’t necessarily have to have a lot of money, “but you need to be really into it.” Seven-year-old Henry LePage cheerfully recounts his first adventure in boatbuilding and its trials and successes. Veteran cruiser Doug Serrill discusses how taking care of his own boat helps relieve the pressure of his everyday life.
Seven-year old Henry LePage got the boatbuilding bug from his grandfather, who helped him build this 11′ 6″ skiff from scratch.
All of these people seem to be forward thinkers. They were excited not just to tell me about what they had done, but also what they were going to do next. Henry is already planning his next woodworking project, Kaj dreams of sailing north, and Doug is looking for a bigger boat to take to Alaska. They all keep raising the bar higher for themselves.