Harkers Islanders

When we lived aboard we got to know some Harkers Island boatbuilders. There were some very memorable characters that I was fortunate enough to work with and become friends with.

We were hauled on a railway at Harkers Island by some 'native' friends with a yard there. When we tied up, the current pushed us away away from the dock. As I was tugging a line to get us closer so my wife could get off onto the dock, a yard hand came to our rescue, exclaiming to my wife as he approached, "Go ahead, you can make it in 2 jumps."

When they got a look at the underwater hull of my full keel sailboat, one of the men told the railway operator..."Better pull her all the way up. A barnacle will jump 4 feet out of the water to attach hisself to a fiberglass boat."

And at the yard where they were building a shrimper, I asked if I could see the plans they were working from. I was directed to a 2 foot piece of 2x10 with a boat sketched on it in pencil. I asked how they calculated where the waterline would be. James said, "With the Detroit we're puttin in her, it'll be here." pointing to a place on the sketched drawing, "We might have to mover it up or down for a different motor."

I was helping Gillikin repair a damaged taffrail on a sailboat that I was crewing...he'd done a beautiful precision scarf, all that was left to do was make a 1" teak plug to cover a stainless nut on a post. I followed James back to the shop, thinking I'd get to see him turn the plug on a lathe. He grabbed a hunk of teak and examined the grain. "Let's go, this'll work." Back at the sailboat he took out his pocket knife and carved a plug by hand that was perfect.

But my favorite memory is watching them plank a trawler hull. As I approached, I asked the worker if he'd mind having a spectator. He was amiable, suggesting that the secret was to not leave a muletrack...the indentation a hammer head makes when the fastener isn't hit squarely as it's pounded flush, and he said, "You want to drive it in with one blow."

He then proceeded to place a silicon bronze screw at the end of the plank and with a single blow, put it flush to the plank without leaving a mark. I then asked him why he hammered the screw in. He commented that it arranges the wood fibers in a downward fashion that keeps the screw tight. So I asked, "Why do you suppose they put that slot in the head of the screw? He said, "Oh, that's only for gettin' 'em out."

Those Harkers Island boat builders were nothing short of wood magicians and a friendly lot for anyone interested in the water.

There's a lot of misinformation on the Intenet, but believe me, I'm not smart enough to be making this stuff up.