Well, it’s a long story.

To begin with—it’s a Chesapeake Light Craft Chester Yawl…yawl in the sense of a workboat attached to a ship, not a sail rig. Sold as a kit, comes from the same company, and is assembled in the same way, as my venerable CLC Wood Duck kayak, which was built in Rockport, what, 12 years ago? Although called a Chester yawl, it is really a Whitehall pulling boat, a design that has been in service since the time of square-riggers. These boats were used to ferry the captain and other officers to shore when the ship came to anchor in a foreign port. Best rowing boat ever designed, if you exclude racing shells.

This one was built in Sheboygan by a retired doctor, a meticulous and painstaking craftsman, though not much of an outdoors person. Beautifully made, with several custom flourishes; a work of art, designed for water but almost never actually touching it.

So, what’s it doing here in Whitewater? With the Covid situation in Ontario going from bad to worse, we had begun to fear that the border would remain shut another summer, and it was getting hard to think of another summer without any boat whatsoever. Sue said check Craigslist for a used kayak, which I did. But instead of a kayak, I found a Whitehall pulling boat, for just about the same price.

The builder turned out to be a nice older gentleman, but a very poor businessman. The asking price, which I paid in full, amounted to less than the price of the kit, equipment, and trailer—and that leaves out the nearly 200 hours of skilled labor that went into construction. I could turn around and sell the boat tomorrow for three times what I paid for it—but of course, there’s no way I would do that. Can’t wait to go rowing!