Boatbuilder Andrew Smith launches skiff
By Lauren Ross/Special to the Rappahannock News
"Putting a boat in the water for the first time gives me a satisfying sense of closure." That is how Andrew Smith, Rappahannock boatbuilder, describes the feeling of the recent maiden launch of his newly finished 12-foot Acorn Skiff. This was the culmination of thousands of hours of hard work – lofting, calculating, estimating, milling, shaping, laminating, painting, varnishing, fitting and seemingly endless sanding. After years of laboring next to the boat, this was the day to finally step inside of it.
Smith started Blue Ridge Boatworks in the town of Washington in the summer of 2005. He divided his time between the boatshop, various construction jobs and Blue Ridge Mac, where he is a certified Macintosh technician. The challenge of building boats, part-time, in the mountains revealed itself from the start.
"The most difficult part was finding, estimating, and ordering materials," said Smith. "If I was a half of a quart short of something – paint, varnish, glue – it could throw my schedule off for a week or two. But, I was bound and determined to build boats. And this is our home."
And so, on the first warm, clear Saturday afternoon in April, Smith towed the finished skiff to a local pond. He and Justin Corddry, a furniture and cabinet maker with whom Smith shares the Packing Shed shop space, easily carried the surprisingly light boat to the water's edge, and gently eased her in. Smith stepped inside, pushed off, and rowed to the far side of the pond. "I knew that it wouldn’t leak," he said, "but I was thrilled that the changes that I had made to the hull design had not adversely affected the tracking or speed."
Smith acknowledged that the afternoon had a kind of excitement to it.
"It felt as though something that had been inanimate in one moment, transformed into a living thing the next," he said. "A boat is meant to bring a certain function and enjoyment into people’s lives for many, many years. When you experience it floating for the first time, it feels like opening a hatch to its purpose."
This skiff is Smith’s third boat, after building two at The Landing School in Arundel, Maine. Smith calls his experience there "invaluable," saying that his education gave him not only the practical techniques to build a "yacht-quality fit-and-finish" boat by himself, but also the theoretical knowledge to solve tricky challenges as they occurred.
"Everything at that school is taught with the knowledge that a boat must first and foremost be safe," he said. "People’s lives are at stake. Boatbuilding requires the utmost diligence and thought – for beauty, quality, and survival."
Smith smiled as he said, "With the first stroke of the oars, I knew that I had a really nice boat." Then he added, "The boat is as responsible for that as I am."
The skiff is for sale – the first made at Blue Ridge Boatworks – likely the first of its kind and quality made in Rappahannock County. Interested parties may contact Andrew Smith at his shop: 540-675-9955.