Joe Albury's father began making boats as Albury Boat Builders in 1927. Joe grew up helping his father and made his first boat when he was 12. Joe and his father worked together making boats for many years and now Joe is the only one making traditional Abaco sailing dinghies. He uses his father's designs and each boat is hand made out of local lumber. He searches the local islands for trees with just the right bend in them to cut the ribs and bow. These pieces are usually from near the root of the tree. The wood is local Madera (Mahogany) for the ribs and bow. Madera is very hard and strong and the rather large keel appears to be of oak. He uses Dogwood for the bottom braces on the ribs and then cedar planks are attached to the sides and again for the small deck . If the wood is "green" it is cured "in the sea" before it is used.
Joe explain to me the differences in the designs of the boats under construction now. The 11 ft sailing dinghy has a nice reverse sheer bow for speed while the 14.5 sail boat is a work boat design and has a nearly straight sheer. The straighter sheer makes a more stable work platform for the fishermen as they stand a lot while fishing. Each boat has more keel than I expected and Joe does put some weight in the bottom of each to make them more stable under sail. He said that the 11 ft model was actually designed by his grandfather who made many boats for local fishermen.
He makes several per year for sale. I didn't ask the price as I suspect that if you need to ask you probably can't afford one. Joe and his son also carve halve hulls and make beautiful frame models of Abaco dinghies. The fine workmanship is obvious, even to this inexperienced eye.
Joe's family also owns and his son runs Edwin's Boat Yard which is a full service boat yard with two locations on Man-O-War Cay. They have a sail loft on the premises and have a very complete chandlery.
Are there other boat builders in other clays? Is it common for small fishermen to own their own boat or do most fishing operations have bigger boats for comercial fishing? Are their Sport fishing boats running out of Man O War Clay?.
ReplyDeleteI am not aware of other boat builders on other cays. The small fishermen I have seen use their own boats which are not unlike fishermen from other areas. I have not seen any big commercial trawlers like you see in Florida. There have been reports of Japanese and Chinese trawlers near here. A Chinese "long liner" was reported south of here last week. It was a cautionary report because the "long lines" are miles long and are a navigation hazard. If commercial fishing in their traditional fishing grounds (the Pacific Ocean) is getting fished out I wonder where they will go when they fish out the Atlantic?
ReplyDeleteThere are many sport fishing boats here that go out on charters etc. Someone caught a 640 lb tuna the other day, at least that is the fish story of the week.
Great thing to know about making sailboats from generation. Thanks for sharing.
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