Jim Edwards’ new skiff reminds us of our heritage.

This story is about Jim Edwards, boat builder from Notre Dame Bay. I wrote it for Wooden Boat News, March 2010 (photo courtesy of Jim Edwards).















As Jim Edwards puts the finishing touches on his new 20-foot skiff, he thinks about his childhood in Change Islands, Notre Dame Bay.

“Change Islands was a nice little place to grow up in the 1960s and 1970s,” said Edwards. “Everybody knew each other. We didn’t have to lock anything up. It’s still a lot like that today.”

Like many communities in Newfoundland and Labrador, the main livelihood in Change Islands was fishing. Processing was done in the Changes Island Fish Plant. But the scale of the industry has become much smaller since the cod moratorium in 1992.

“Before the moratorium, there were 100 fishermen and 600 people in Change Islands,” explained Edwards. “Today, there are 20 fishermen and 200 people in the community. I’m one of the 20 remaining fishermen.”

Despite the changes to the fishing industry over the years, Edwards has never considered leaving Change Islands. He continues to fish from April to September with his brothers-in-law, Stuart Diamond and David Diamond. They own a 19-foot fiberglass speedboat, a 35-foot longliner and a 45-foot longliner.

“I’ll stay here as long as I have something to do to make a living,” said Edwards determinedly.

During the winter months, Edwards is often in his shed building boats. He has built 10 punts, and built and repaired 10 speed boats. He has also built two longliners (36-foot and 42-foot) with Stuart Diamond and David Diamond.

“Years ago, the boats we built during the winter were used for fishing,” explained Edwards. “But now, I build boats for myself.”

Edwards first learned about building boats when he was 15 years old. His uncle, Francis Edwards, asked neighbour Bert White to help him repair his speedboat. Edwards watched the men work and was soon hooked. He tried his hand at building his own boats.

“The boats weren’t perfect as first, but I kept trying new things to make them better,” said Edwards. “Boatbuilding is still a learning experience for me.”

When designing his boats, Edwards makes a model using the three-quarter scale. His uncle, Arthur Coward from Greenspond, showed him how to do this. Edwards cuts his own timbers. He’s always on the look out for good spruce and juniper.

Edwards’ new skiff is a smaller version of the 25- to 30-foot vessels traditionally used in the Newfoundland fisheries. “I’m making the skiff to show my young nephews who have never seen one before,” explained Edwards.

To power the skiff, Edwards purchased an old marine engine from a gentleman in Northern Arm. “It’s a 4 HP Acadia,” said Edwards. “This type of engine is hard to get these days, but fishermen were throwing them over the wharf a few years ago.”

Once Edwards completes his skiff, he will be building a 15-foot punt for the 2010 Fogo Island Punt Race. Edwards and David Diamond have participated in this race since its inception three years ago. Edwards was also part of Shorefast Foundation's documentary Cranky that highlighted participants from the punt race.

“It’s a hard 10-mile row,” Edwards laughed. “But so far, we’ve gotten one of each metal: bronze, silver and gold.” Edwards and Diamond placed second in 2007, first in 2008 and third in 2009.

Although he hasn’t tried to win any metals for his boat building skills, Edwards gets satisfaction from knowing his work will be enjoyed by his nephews and others in his community. His work will live on for a good many years to come.

Joe Goudie: a boat builder with a modern approach for traditional canoes

This story is about Joe Goudie, boat builder from Labrador. I co-wrote it with my colleague, Gina Pecore, for Wooden Boat News, December 2009 (photo courtesy of Joe Goudie).

A few years ago, Joe Goudie and his son were paddling through rapids on the Churchill River. With water levels low and rapids raging, their canoe - loaded down with supplies - smashed against the rocks and tore apart.

Luckily, Goudie and his son managed to make it safely to shore. Assessing the damage, they discovered the wood in the canoe had cracked to pieces but their supplies were still dry. The surprised paddlers inspected the wreckage.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Goudie recalls. “When we took a close look I realized the wood in the canoe was shattered but the canvas still held everything together.”

The canvas he refers to is actually canvas that Goudie stretches over his canoes (replacing the traditional birch bark covering) and then coats with a special linseed oil mixture. Goudie knew the technique gave his boats a tough shell but that day on the Churchill proved the method was better than he imagined.

From his experience, you’d expect Goudie - a native Labradorian - to have built boats since he was quite young. Not so. Goudie only started hand-crafting canoes when he retired in 1996.

Born and raised in Mud Lake, Goudie completed his education in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. He’s enjoyed a varied and colourful career. He served with the RCMP auxiliary, worked as a broadcaster with CBC, and was town clerk and town manager of Happy Valley-Goose Bay. In 1975, he was elected to Newfoundland and Labrador’s House of Assembly and held several ministerial posts.

After leaving politics in 1985, Goudie went to work with the Department of National Defence. Today, he is a consultant for Parks Canada and a community liaison officer for the potential establishment of Mealy Mountains as a National Park.

Creating the Grand River canoe
Goudie has always maintained a strong connection with the outdoors. As a First Nations person, he wanted to sustain the tradition of canoe building in Labrador.

When he began boat building in 1996, he already had a lot of common sense when it came to canoe design and construction. However, Goudie was eager to find an “expert” to teach him the modern interpretation of the traditional craft. “The only expert I could find was Jerry Stelmok in the United States,” he laughed.

In 1997, Goudie opened his own shop, the Grand River Canoe Company. Grand River was the name formerly used for the Churchill River. Today, he builds 16-foot canoes (for one person) and 18-foot canoes (for two people). The canoes can accommodate a motor.

While at the Wooden Boat Museum conference in October, Goudie described his Grand River boat-building method. Before he starts building a canoe, he carves a half model to make sure his design is just right.

Different types of wood are chosen to build each canoe. Goudie prefers to use cedar because it’s lighter than white spruce. He also uses white cedar but he’s heard the material is dangerous to work with because it’s hard on allergies. He uses a homemade kiln to dry the wood and to manage the moisture content. The steamed ribs are then bent over a solid building form creating the desired canoe shape.

Once the hull is shaped, Goudie covers it with a canvas. He mixes linseed oil and other materials, such as silica flour and “paints” the canvas with the concoction, filling in all the cracks. After several coatings, the canvas becomes smooth and tough.

“The technique is better than paint,” explained Goudie. “It also replaces having to do many, many coats of paint!” If his episode on the Churchill River is any indication, there’s no doubt Goudie is right.

Meet Sam Feltham, boat builder from Glovertown

Here is a story I wrote about Sam Feltham, boat builder from Glovertown, for Wooden Boat News, fall 2009. The photo (below) shows Feltham standing next to the 14-foot rodney he built for his son.















Samuel (Sam) Feltham knows a thing or two about boats. He built his first boat in 1942 at the age of 14. Since then he has built over 100 boats including rodneys, trap boats, speed boats, dories, cabin cruisers, and a few models.

Feltham was born on Deer Island in Bonavista Bay so boats were naturally an important element in his life. Boats were used for fishing, getting from community to community, and hauling logs. “Everyone on Deer Island made their own boats,” explained Feltham.

There were 17 families on Deer Island when Feltham was born on March 3, 1928. He has fond memories of growing up on the island. “On Deer Island, you fetched for yourself. You raised your own cattle and grew your own vegetables. You bought everything you needed in the fall of the year, after the men returned from their fishing season.” Feltham’s father fished in Labrador.

When he was a boy, Feltham learned carpentry and boat building from Noah Feltham, a handyman on Deer Island who made everything from boats to leg casts.

Feltham was a quick study; when he was 10 years old, he built furniture for his mother’s living room. Pieces of this furniture still exist in the family today. By the time he was 14, he was already building boats from stem to stern. His first was a six-footer built in his mother’s kitchen.

“The boat floated, but turned over, so it was put away!” laughed Feltham.

Feltham didn’t give up on boat building. A year later, he built a 16-foot fishing rodney. His father caulked it on his 16th birthday. They used it for fishing and for hauling logs from Indian Bay.

In his late teens, Feltham spent three seasons on coastal boats in Labrador. In the winter, he continued to build boats. Feltham made 15-foot rodneys that he sold to the Newfoundland government for 50 dollars each. They were used at Labrador posts.

In 1954, Feltham moved to Glovertown and often travelled to Gander and St. John’s to work as a carpenter. He helped build Gander’s airport in the 1950s and also worked at the air force base in that town. In the early 1980s, he was shop foreman overseeing construction of the Arctic Vessel and Marine Research Institute at the National Research Council in St. John’s.

Today, Feltham lives in Glovertown with his wife Bernice. Together, they have raised four boys and have eight grandchildren and one great granddaughter.

Feltham recently completed a 14-foot rodney for his son Paul, who will use it for recreation. He is also passing on a few tips to other boat enthusiasts in the family. “My son Jerry bought a fibreglass boat,” said Feltham. “I’m helping him – showing him – to do things like put in a steering wheel.” Through Feltham’s guidance, a new generation within his family is ready for the water.

Bring life to publications

Life stories add spirit to publications, such as newsletters. We all like to read and listen to stories about other people's dreams and everyday activities. These stories gives us a chance to pause, be entertained, and reflect on our own lives.

Over the past year, I have been writing life stories about local boat builders for Wooden Boat News, a publication of the Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador. For the next couple of days, I'm going to highlight the boat builders' stories on my blog. The first story is called: Building a motor boat in southern Labrador - from the keel up! It's about Melvin Curl from St. Lewis (shown in the photo below). It appeared in Wooden Boat News, summer 2009. Enjoy!

Building a motor boat in southern Labrador – from the keel up!

When the temperature hits 25 degrees below zero, many of us retreat to the comforts of home and yearn for milder days. Not Melvin Curl of St. Lewis, southern Labrador. This past winter, he was in his shed building a motor boat. He began in the fall by cutting wood for the keel, planks and timbers of the boat.

“The cold weather came and I put the timber in the shed,” explained Curl. “I have to season it for five months until the sap is out. You need good, dry timber to make boats. I took the stove out of the shed, because the warmth isn’t good for the timber while it’s drying. I worked with nylon gloves on. It was too cold to go in the woods.”

Curl built his first boat in 1962, when he was 18 years old. He learned about the craft from his father and brothers while growing up in St. Lewis. Over the years, Curl has built around 25 boats: dories, motor boats, and speed boats.

“If I’m cutting firewood and I find some good timber, I bring it back for boat building. I mainly use spruce and fir,” said Curl. “I make my own molds. I work with the wood until I get the shape I need.”

Curl is well-known in his community for boat building. “He has the gift of turning a few old twisted tree limbs into a ‘she’ on the ocean,” observed Keith Hardy, manager of Coastal Labrador Fisheries Ltd. “He has the touch of a master with his keen eye for the twists and turns that make up a vessel from a number of vines.”

Hardy has spent the past 26 fishing seasons in St. Lewis. He knows a bit about the history of the Curl family. “Melvin stems from a large family that fished from here and Petty Harbour - a few heads north of St. Lewis,” explained Hardy. “Originally they fished from the creek - a rough and ragged excuse for a cove on the back of this headland. They built their own skiff to get them to the fishing grounds - a boat that brought them home safely with pounds full of cod!”

Fishing cod and salmon was Curl’s livelihood until 1992; he retired as skipper at the time of the moratorium. Since then he has been working seasonally in crab processing.

Curl intends to finish his motor boat before Christmas, and sell it to Coastal Labrador Fisheries Ltd.

“I don’t see anyone else on this coast - from Lodge Bay, Mary's Harbour, Port Hope, Charlottetown or Cartwright - ever building another boat of this stature,” remarked Hardy. “In my opinion it will be the final motor boat cut, dried, framed and fastened in southern Labrador.”

After Curl completes this boat, he’s planning to make one more speed boat. “For the first time, I’ll use fiberglass to finish it,” said Curl. “This boat will be for me.”

DNTO looks at what makes a great story

While you're buzzing around town today, turn on CBC Radio One at 2:30 p.m. (NT). Definately Not the Opera is focusing on the real power of storytelling: what makes a great story, and why we love hearing (as well as telling) tales.

One in 8 Million

Next week, my husband and I will be visiting New York City. This is very exciting for me, since we haven't been alone together on a trip in over a decade. Plus, I've always wanted to visit NYC. So, of course, I've been a bit over-zealous in my planning...so many places to see...so little time! I've spent many hours talking to friends who have already been to NYC and I've explored every nook and cranny of NYC online.

Through my online travels, I've found a very cool project on the New York Times website. It's called One in 8 Million. The project consists of a series of vignettes of everyday New Yorkers who are telling their stories. The black and white photos of the people are striking, the accents are thick, and the stories are touching. Can you imagine if something similar was prepared for St. John's? Hmmm...anyone out there want to partner with me on this one?

Girl Guides seek stories

The Girl Guides of Canada are looking for stories and drawings from members to publish in a book called You're My Hero. When preparing submissions, Girl Guides should answer the question, "who would you consider to be one of your heroes?"

The books will help the Girl Guides of Canada celebrate their 100th anniversary and will be used as a fundraiser for the organization. They will cost $20 (plus shipping). Girl Guides of Canada will receive $8.00 for every book sold. In addition, You're My Hero Media will donate $0.50 from every book pre-ordered by May 30 to a new You're my Hero/GGC Scholarship. Click here for more information.

Time is running out! Submit your hero story by April 15th.