ANJA

Around Vancouver, British Columbia, word is that Arnt Arntzen is your go-to guy whenever you accumulate a pile of castaway wood or metal oddments that have outlived their designated uses. Old church pews, throwaway planks from a ruined pier, scrapped airplane and helicopter parts, metal screens and pipes, railings from a demolished stairway—Arntzen will cheerfully scoop them all up and stash them until an idea for some adaptive new life occurs to him. Maybe as components of the custom furniture he designs and builds for a living.

Maybe as parts of a boat, his other passion in life.

Arntzen and his wife, Valerie, weren’t quite looking for a boat in 2019 when a 23' carvel-planked pilot cutter turned up on Craigslist, posted by builder David Betts on an island near Vancouver. At first glance, Arntzen was only mildly intrigued. He loves the architecture of classic British workboats and gaffers in general, but this boat, originally designed by the naval architect Roger Long of Massachusetts as a pocket cruiser, had been built without the trunk cabin as a flush-decked daysailer. It looked good, but it wouldn’t be useful for cruising.

“Then the light went on,” Arntzen says. “I could just build the cabin….”

The couple made an appointment to see the boat, and it clicked. Betts had done an excellent job building a robust hull with sapele planking on steam-bent oak frames with bronze fastenings. There were nicely crafted details such as sapele caprails and hatches. The boat was only five years old and the sails and diesel appeared healthy. The price was attractive at $28,000 Canadian (about $21,000 US). Arntzen had built or helped build seven or eight boats, and had a complete wood and metal shop at his disposal in Vancouver. The path to a lovely and fully realized small cruiser appeared clear. But as it always is in boat stories, it wasn’t to be that simple.