Boat Building on Anegada

$59.00

Boat Building on Anegada

 

The BVI has long had a reputation for building boats, sloops and schooners, and rowing boats. The timbers would be chosen from white cedar trees on Sage Mountain, and often tied so they would grow into the right shapes. They would be felled when the moon was dark, and planed, then smoothed with rough Petrea leaves if sandpaper was scarce. When the boat was assembled the planks would be caulked with pitch made from heated Pitch Apples (Balsam). Launching was a community affair and a cause for celebration.