We paid a recent visit to Man-o-war in the Abacos. While the ladies were in the sail shop, I noted this little painted wooden skiff carrying a man and his son. I approached and told him I really liked his boat and asked if I could take some pictures. He said “sure and this is the man who built her”. He introduced me to his father, Hartley. I shook his hand and told him of my appreciation for the Albury designs and his little boat, in particular. Then I asked what his surname was. “Albury.” He was obviously into his 80s and had been chatting with another of his generation, who he identified as his brother. Then he asked if I would like to see the boat he was currently building. We wound our way up hill and behind some buildings to an old, wooden barn/shed which he unlocked. Then he led me inside. Wow, was all I could think or say! All manner of tools lined the walls and the smell of the place was incredible. In the middle of the floor was this little wooden sailing skiff that he was building. I snapped a few pictures for us to enjoy. In one picture you can see some of the wooden bending tools that he uses; it looks kind of like an axe handle. I asked him how many boats that tool had seen and he just smiled. Hartley told me that he and his brother were the last of the family to be building the wooden boats and that, in their hey day, they had built grand cruisers and other big boats too. No one was interested in learning these old ways. The wood in the boat he called madiera, a local hardwood. You can see a piece of that wood sawn out of a tree stump, under that axe handle looking tool. He explained that you cut those pieces so you can use the natural grain of the tree to make the bends in the hull. Sometimes they soak the boards in saltwater before making an especially tight bend. His son then told me that there was no money in it, unfortunately. And besides, he couldn’t find a young man strong enough to cut the madiera trees and dumb enough to troop through the poison wood bushes to get there! lol. I bid him a respectful goodbye. I will admit that I would have loved to listen to Hartley and @Chris_Morejohn talk about their builds and designs!
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Thanks for sharing this. I know him and the shop. Joe Albury built-many sailing dinghys there.
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Great story, wow! Thats my kinda boat. Love the stern shape. Thanks.
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Very cool! Thanks for sharing the story and pics.
I spent a few family vacations on Man-o-war in the 80s. In the evenings everyone would gather near the Albury’s grocery and talk into the evening. It was cool to see all those generations in one place. We would rent a house and boat from them for our stay. Good memories!
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So cool! Thanks for sharing.
They don’t build them like that anymore–man or boat, unfortunately. Thanks for sharing.
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Wow, love those boats, thanks for sharing this.
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