Building a Trap Skiff

The remains of elegant and purpose-built trap skiffs are ubiquitous along the Newfoundland and Labrador shores. Most fishing harbors have a wreck or two left as evidence of the fine eye of a builder, good workmanship, durable wood, and a hard but purposeful living. Whatever it is that lets these sculptural relics endure, there is a nostalgic appreciation for the craft inherent in them that seems to prevent their removal as so much blight.

And so it has been with me. As I brought my outsider’s sensibilities to these coasts in the course of several visits, I was struck by the sweetness of line, the simplicity of structure, and the enormous carrying capacity in such a small craft. Not unlike the way the ancient Greeks produced a lasting architectural standard based on the mathematical ratios inherent in the way humans fit into nature, these old trap skiffs have an enduring elegance that requires no understanding of naval architecture to appreciate.

So, silly me, back in New England having sold my wonderful old Aage Nielsen–designed sloop ELSKOV, in which I’d made several visits to Newfoundland and Labrador, I started to wonder if anyone was still building these boats in Newfoundland and if I could get one. It seemed to me that their obviously easily driven hull shape would be perfect for motoring about the ledges and islands of Muscongus Bay, Maine, where my wife, Trish, and her sister have a toehold on its rocky western shore. I found a wonderful trove of information on the website of the Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador in Winterton, Trinity Bay (www.woodenboatmuseum.com; see WB No. 274). There was all sorts of history, oral and written, with just one shortcoming: No one was actually still building these boats. On the other hand, there was enough information here that someone like me with time on his hands might just be able to build one himself.