Schooner: Building a Wooden Boat on Martha's Vineyard
Humankind has been taking to the seas in wooden ships since at least 2650 BCE, using construction techniques that have not changed much through the millennia. Over the last 50 years, modern alloys, fiberglass, and composite materials have become the standard in the recreational sailboat industry, and wooden boats have been relegated to specialty magazines and pocket colonies of connoisseurs. Schooner is a gripping and delightful tale of the design and construction of the largest wooden boat to be launched from Martha’s Vineyard in the last 150 years. Author Dunlop and photographer Alison Shaw chronicle the 1,215-day gestation of Rebecca of Vineyard Haven. Through prose and pictures, the reader joins builders Nat Benjamin and Ross Gannon from the initial design conversation through the launch. Combining the stages of the boat’s construction with snippets of American history, portraits of rugged individualist craftsmen, and a glimpse of the power of a New England community, this book is a joy to read—and not just for boat-building enthusiasts. --Mark Coe