Dorothy Elizabeth: Building a Traditional Wooden Schooner

This is the story of <em>Dorothy Elizabeth</em>, a 28-foot schooner. Particularly, it is the story of why to build a traditional wooden sailing vessel that relies on age-old methods and materials, yet also embraces newfangled technologies. But mostly it is the story of the people--a score of craftsmen and craftswomen, friends, and family--who give their skill, advice, support, ingenuity, and time to turn the idea of <em>Dorothy Elizabeth</em> into a graceful, seaworthy reality. You will meet Ralph Stanley of Southwest Harbor, Maine, one of the worlds great designers and builders of traditional wooden boats, and a disarmingly plainspoken master craftsman in the maritime Maine tradition. You will meet Mary Chandler Duncan, a poet and the authors wife, soul mate, and first mate. You will meet Nat Wilson, sail maker, who took time out from building topsails for the USS <em>Constitution</em> to build sails for <em>Dorothy Elizabeth</em>. You will meet Frank Luke, neighbor, boatyard owner, all-around helper, and the man who launched <em>Dorothy Elizabeth</em>. And you will meet many other singular people up and down the coast from Portland, Maine, to Lunnenberg, Nova Scotia, and beyond, drawn together by the building of a boat.