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Speedboat built by Sam Feltham1963
Glovertown, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada
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This speedboat was built by Samuel Feltham in approximately two months. She measures eighteen feet in length, six feet in width and twenty four inches in depth. Speedboats have now become the most popular of the current boat types in Bonavista Bay. Wooden speedboats are now giving way to ones made of aluminum, fiberglass and other products. The speedboat is still used for fishing, birding, sealing, hunting, transportation and pleasure riding.29
Sailboat built by Samuel Feltham1983
Alexander Bay, Glovertown, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada
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Here you can see a sailboat built by Samuel Feltham. She measures twenty two feet in length, seven feet four inches in width and thirty eight inches in depth. She is not rigged in this picture: her mast and sail were in storage when picture was taken. This is the type of wooden boat that Newfoundlanders spend much of their leisure time in enjoying the natural beauty of Canada's most easterly province.31
A modified punt built by Samuel Feltham14 November 2003
Glovertown, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada
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Here's another variety of boat - a modified punt by Samuel Feltham. She's still under construction and when finished will be fitted with a sail. Newfoundland boatbuilders regularly adapt their boat styles to suite their needs and their whims. This punt, atypically, has a center board and a rudder. In other words, she's been adapted so she can do the work of a punt (fishing, say) and the work of a sailboat (recreational sailing, say).33
Model of the 'Bluenose II' built by Samuel Feltham1993
Glovertown, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada
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Many Newfoundlanders build model boats and Samuel Feltham is no exception. Here is his model of the 'Bluenose II.' She measures twenty-seven inches in length. Central Bonavista Bay boatbuilders admire superb boats wherever they come from. The 'Bluenose' is probably the most famous sailing boat in the world's sailing lore. She is often chosen as the model prototype by Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.35
In this storyline we've taken a quick glance at one man's thinking and sketching and at his performance regarding boatbuilding in Central Bonavista Bay. Several things are clear: Newfoundland boatbuilders use their minds and their imaginations to create boats that satisfy both their wants and their needs; their prime boat needs and wants are centered on fishing, hunting, sealing, birding, transportation and recreation; they change with the times but keep to the heritage cores.A typical Central Bonavista Bay boatbuilder might, like Samuel Feltham, build about a hundred boats in a lifetime. Starting as young as thirteen or fourteen, under the guidance usually of a father or grandfather, boatbuilders construct a variety of boat types including the punt, the dory, the trapskiff, the speedboat, the sailboat and the cabin cruiser. Sometimes the community-type of boat prevails. Everyone in the community might prefer a certain counter shape or stem shape or keel shape.
Early rising is characteristic for boatbuilders who know that the most invigorating and delightful hours come with and before sunrise. Eagerness is another characteristic: boatbuilders begin their day joyfully anticipating how they will enhance their new creations.
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