Schooner

Schooner tells the story of the building of Rebecca of Vineyard Haven, a sixty-foot wooden schooner that was the largest boat building on the Island of Martha's Vineyard since the election of President Lincoln. It has already been called "remarkable" by WoodenBoat magazine, and has endorsements from singer James Taylor and Jon Wilson, editor-in-chief of WoodenBoat. It has extraordinary photos and is in a format that is both entertaining and easy to read, as well as to page through. Visual candy, with text to match. A natural for any area where there is heavy boating interest. She was the largest sailing vessel built on the Island of Martha's Vineyard since the election of Abraham Lincoln. Nearly every part of her is built or cast or fashioned by hand. In photographs and words, and from drawings to launch, Schooner: Building a Wooden Boat on Martha's Vineyard, takes you through the construction of Rebecca, a sixty-foot wooden schooner, as no other book about traditional boatbuilding ever has. In her beautiful lines, sturdy hull, sensible rig, and practical amenities, Rebecca is a boat built to sail against all the prevailing trends in modern-day, racing-inspired, electronically tricked-out yacht design. Before she is launched, the schooner herself sails through more drama on land than most boats do in a lifetime on the water, navigating her way through a federal bankruptcy court, enduring a tumultuous work stoppage that lasts nearly two years, changing owners during a court-ordered auction, and earning a reputation as a boat that knows how to get herself out of trouble, even without moving an inch. Most of all, Schooner celebrates the craftsmanship of boatbuilders Nat Benjamin and Ross Gannon and the Gannon and Benjamin Marine Railway, where Rebecca was designed and built and which celebrates its thirtieth anniversary this year. Called the "rock star" of boat builders, Gannon and Benjamin is one of only a few full-time boatyards in the United States devoted exclusively to the design, construction and repair of traditional, plank-on-plank wooden boats. In a world that puts the word "disposable" in front of everything from cash to razors, the story that Schooner shows and tells will appeal to boat and book lovers, and to everyone who cares about the skill required to build something significant and useful and lovely, not just for today and tomorrow, but for the ages.