Skills and Friends to Gain from Wooden Boats
Ralph Szur, July 25th, 2024
My wife and I had lived on the East Coast for all of our lives and I had enjoyed woodworking as a hobby and sailing in Long Island Sound and on the HudsonRiver. We were members of the Beacon NY Sloop club for 20 years where I learned to sail a traditional Hudson river gaff rigged sloop, owned by the famous environmentalist and folk singer, Pete Seeger. As an all volunteer organization, we maintained the Woody Guthrie and took 12 guests out five nights a week for free sails on the Hudson.
In order to maintain the boat, we had frequent work parties. There, I learned the intricacies of cedar, oak, black locust, and spruce, compound bevel cuts, and bronze re-fastening. I had the opportunity to sharpen my boat building skills by putting in copious volunteer hours during the boat’s 3 year restoration working alongside the shipwrights at the Kingston, NY Maritime Museum.
In 2021 we bought a condominium in Richmond in the East Bay. I was exploring Bay Area opportunities for volunteer boat building, when one day I saw a notice for a nonprofit called Spaulding Marine Center. This piqued my interest in a potential volunteer spot. I found my way to the Center and became acquainted with Rob. He was a coordinating the volunteer efforts at the time and he recruited me to work on refinishing Dixie, the Center’s wooden power boat. During our conversations, we talked about the Freda project. I became intrigued because the boat was very similar to the gaff rigged sloop, Woody Guthrie, that I had worked on in New York.
The following winter, the Pelican Sail Training Project had commenced at the Center and the Spaulding staff recruited me to assist in the build of the six wooden boats. I’ve had some experience with stitch and glue and epoxy and welcomed the opportunity to help out the Center. During the build, I made some new friends and again learned some great skills.
In the winter of 2023 I had met Tony, another Pelican volunteer, and worked with him in the homeschool student program helping the kids build model sloops. Now Tony has become my next-door neighbor! I recruited another neighbor Darryl to help with the Freda project under the tutelage of Greg, who coordinates the work and volunteers helping out with Freda. On Tuesdays the “Spaulding Volunteer Bus” leaves Richmond to work in Sausalito.
I love being in the traditional boat yard atmosphere building and restoring. I find the staff at Spaulding very welcoming and helpful whenever I need assistance with materials or techniques. I like the idea of supporting such a wonderful community based and professional organization with maintaining a historic sailing vessel like Freda. Spaulding is a dynamic entity in the marine world. Part of the creativity at Spaulding is evidenced by the apprentice program, which is unique to the area.
I encourage folks to support this wonderful organization either with their time, donations, or participation in their fundraising events. It’s a great place to learn and be a part of the San Francisco Bay Maritime Heritage.
