The Slow Build of LA BELLE SAUVAGE

As a traditional boatbuilder and a father, I naturally hoped that someday my children might take an interest in my trade; I had romantic visions of passing on the lessons and myriad woodworking tricks of building a wooden boat to my two daughters. However, I was also aware of the fickle nature of the parent-child relationship: push too hard or appear too eager and they might run in the opposite direction like the sea captain’s son who moves to Idaho to raise cows. I had to approach my daughters’ woodworking education with finesse and self-awareness; I knew I could be a bit of a fanatic when it came to explaining the intricacies of the dipping-lug rig or marveling at the cleverness of a finely sharpened compass plane. My oldest daughter, Solianna, could execute a sly eye roll as I droned on about some obscure bush used in boatbuilding or the chemical composition of a proper keelbolt. I resolved to bide my time, play it cool, and not be that weird old dude yammering on about pine tar, caulking irons, and the tragedy of a lumpy sheer.

I was therefore caught off guard one morning when Solianna, who was 13 at the time, approached me and casually said, “Hey, Papa, I think we should build a sailing dinghy.”

Woah! Breathe deep. Restraint. Years of subtle and not-so-subtle brainwashing were coming to fruition! Don’t blow it. Play it cool. “Oh?” I said, trying to hide the shaky excitement in my voice. “What did you have in mind?”

“Umm...I was thinking of a traditionally built sailing dinghy with a standing-lug sail that would also be good to row.”

Sweet Jesus! Where did this child come from? This would be the father-daughter dream project! I slid a copy of WoodenBoat over the stack of small-craft designs I had been keeping at the ready for this very moment. And then, going impulsively off script, I looked at the magazine in front of me and thought of its Sketchbook section that ran for several years, in which a reader described a boat idea and a designer sketched it up as a concept.

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