Louisbourg boatbuilder reconstructs vintage Nova Scotia sloop

A young cabinet maker from Louisbourg who builds boats for a hobbyhas taken on the task of restoring reconstructing, really a Nova Scotia-built sloop from the 1940s.

Darcy Harteloves to build wooden boats. Now he's working on the project of a lifetime and preserving a piece of Nova Scotia sailing history.

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The 27-year-old told CBC Cape Breton's Information Morning how he came to own the S class sloop,built in 1946 by renowned Lunenburg boatbuilderDavid Stevens.

"I happened to see it for sale on Kijiji, and I just had to have it," he said. "Here's a piece of Nova Scotia history that I get to restore and keep sailing for another I-don't-know-how-many-years."

Harte said when he was considering buyingthe boat, he discovered it has beenstored inside for the two years, but then put outside and"left on two stands and ended up twisting quite badly and becoming misshapen."

When the sloop was built, it was one of six to come out of the same boatyard in one winter. Harteknows of three surviving.

Hesaid he first learnedabout the type of sloop at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, and was encouraged to build one of his own.

As things transpired, buying the boat may have been the simplest part of Harte's job.

Crisco?

"A hydraulic trailer dropped it off outside of my barn," he said. "My father and my uncle came along and we pulled it into the shed with chainfalls and come-alongs. Our pick-up just wouldn't move it.

"So, the come-alongwas perfect. It was nice and slow and easy and of course, a good lubrication ofCrisco really helps.She's presently sitting on acradle and the cradle was slathered up with the Crisco and then a few logs goingacross and we brought her in that way."

Once the boat was in the shed, Harterealized he had noheadroom to build up, so he essentially had to "tear the shed apart," opening up one section and building an extension on another.

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Then the work began.

"In 70 years, she lost three inches off her bow and her stern,she dropped down,"explainedHarte. "She alsodid the same thing on the port and starboard sides. They were different shapes.

"So I actually got the original lines from David Stevens, the grandson of David Stevens who built the boat, which helped me set the boat back into shape."

Harte says he usedjacks, chains, and come-alongs to twist and lift the boat back into its original lines.

• Hear more fromDarcyHarte describingthe condition of the sloopwhen he bought it

'They're beautiful boats'

One by one, Harte began removing and replacing the old planking and ribs.

"For every part I took off," he said."I put something newon. So this is a reconstructionbut I like to call it a restoration. A major restoration."

It may be a long time before Harte finishesthe job, but he's looking forward sailing the sloop when he's done.

"For me it'sthe spirit of it," he said.

"We have a spirit of Nova Scotia, a pride of our province. It's a wooden boat. It was thought up in somebody's mind and brought to life just out of a few pieces of wood. And it really speaks to me.

"They're beautiful boats. They have lovely shape, and they sail ever so beautifully as well. So it's just fantastic.Awesome.I can't say enough."

• Hear the entire interview