"Grampa Peter, can you can you tell me how to build a wherry?"

When my grandson, John, asked me this question, I was so thrilled that I decided to start at the beginning of my day:

I wake up at nine o'clock. My shop is downstairs, so I can take my time getting dressed. I stroll into the kitchen to make myself a cup of joe and casually eat my oats. Finally, I start to pick up the pace and cruise into over-drive because I've got a boat to build.

The first thing to do in the morning is get out my tools and the wood that I will need. In order to make a wherry you need plans. So I start with lofting, then use it as the plan. The first thing I need is wood for the bottom, which can be made out of many types of wood. I have been making wherries since I was twelve; I can fly through making the bottom. Doing the frame takes a lot more accuracy; I make it next. I had made a bunch of stems and sterns out ahead of time. These boats are supposed to be made quickly. There is not too much to them.

For extra support I have to build a frame with some boards, connecting the boat to the ceiling, to keep it steady. This is crucial because you need to keep the boat still when putting on the planks. Now I am ready to put planks on.

Right away I start up the steam box, so it will be hot enough to steam the wood for the planks. I slap the planks in two at a time and work on other things while they steam.

While waiting for the planks to be steamed, I will be caulking the rabbet so the planks will fit tightly. The rabbet is the groove where the first plank fits in. Just as I finish applying the caulk I hear the timer going off, letting me know that the temperature is ready. As I slide the wood into the box, I have to take care so that I don't get my hands too close to the steam pipe. My great grand-daddy got third-degree burns when he didn't keep an eye on where he was putting his arms. Safety, that's a word I got from the wise. A word I can pass on to my grandson.

The next thing to do once the planks are on, is put in the thwarts, or seats. Then I put the whale on the edge of the outside of the boat. The last thing that goes in my boat is the oar locks.

John asked me, "Grampa, how long have you built boats?"

When I was a young lad, like you, my father taught me about building wherries. He didn't want the tradition to die. I was much like your father at the time, not interested in boat building; I did it to keep the tradition alive, but it wasn't what I wanted to do. I really fell in love with building boats later because of your grandmother.

I always loved the sea, and fishing was what I wanted to do. My dad said, "There's no money in fishing," but I proved him wrong when I caught a bluefish that weighed eighty pounds. When I sold it, it brought me in some good money, but soon after that, the fishing business dried up. I was not the only one who was catching the monster fish.

"Grampa what was so special about the wherry?" he asked with an inquisitive look in his eye.

When I first got into building boats I started with wherries because there was such a strong need to get across the Piscataqua River faster and more efficiently. The bottom of the boat is very narrow and stream lined. These boats came in very handy to cut across the Piscataqua River. It must have been around the 1860's when I really was raking in the dough. That's when I sent your dad to Exeter Academy and where he got his first real love for learning.

For many years I worked on boats. When I started out I was only getting fifty cents an hour working for a guy named MacIntosh. He taught me everything there is to know about building sailboats. I had learned building wherries from my dad, which I then taught to Mr. MacIntosh. He was the one that sent me on my way to Portsmouth to help their economy. Our last boat that we built together was a large sailing vessel that Mr. MacIntosh set off in to lived on the ocean. I have not seen him since.

"What was Grandma like?", John said.

I bet you didn't know that your grandma taught me about things that even the greatest boat builders didn't know! As you may know from your father, Jonah, his mother died soon after he was born. She was a wonderful woman that I met one day, while trying to fix my boat. I was pulling on a nail, and just as I got the nail loose, I went flying backwards into her arms. She was wearing a big hat and a purple puffy dress she said, "My good sir what is this preposterous action you do?"

"Sorry Ma'am. My nail let go and I wasn't ready for it," I said. "Well that's quite all right. It's not every day that I get to catch a handsome young gentlemen." she said with enthusiasm.

It was that twinkle in her eye, that spark of life, that made me fall in love. But there was something about her that was different from other women.

I went back to fixing my boat that day. I was going down to pick up my hammer, when I felt someone grab it and hand it to me. To my surprise it was young Jacqueline, whom I had I met this morning. When I looked up, she was wearing blue jeans and a tee-shirt. She also surprised me by telling me a better way of fixing the problem I was having with my boat. She was the most pleasant person to be with and made me really love working on my boat. I learned that she was a daughter of a rich man who was a boat-builder and he taught her everything because he didn't have any sons. We soon started to work together. She taught me things about my boat that I didn't know and I taught her things about her boating that she didn't know. Together, our hard-working hands soon merged and we got married, after several years of hard work on a sailboat we set off to sail it.

We lived on the sea, but when she told me that she was carrying my child, we headed back to land. When she was going to have the baby, she became really sick. After she had Jonah, she died. So even though I am retired now, building boats help me keep the good memories of her alive.

I am so excited to finally have a male in the family that is interested in what I do. I can keep the Wing tradition alive. I plan on taking a trip around the world and living on the open sea. So Johnny, how would you like to come with me this summer and spend some man-to-man time out sailing?"

John flies out of his seat and screams, "Would I ever!"

We'll have talk to your dad. Maybe us men could all go? I know now that my chance of ever getting my son involved are slim to none, but the greatest gift he ever gave me was you. Maybe our gift to him can be the knowledge of my life to you, so that when I am no longer around, there will always be that part of me in you.