Terry Halifax
Northern News Services

NNSL (Apr 19/99) - As long as people have lived near water they have been compelled to travel over it. And as a result, the craft of boat building has been around for centuries.

Wilfred Wilcox of Natik Plumbing and Heating in Cambridge Bay finished his first batch of aluminum boats last year.

His love of boats was the main reason he got started building them, but he says it was also a matter of geology.

"Cause I've got rocks in my head," he said with a laugh. "But seriously, you have to love boats."

Wilcox built four aluminum boats last year and plans to grow on the strength of his experience for the next batch.

"We were able to generate enough money to buy five more kits. We'll be building those some time this spring," he said.

He builds the boats from kits he has shaped in the south.

"We don't have the breaking facilities up here, to put the strength bends in," he said. "All of the welding, the finish grinding and putting the package together is all done here," Wilcox said.

Like anything, he said you learn by your mistakes.

"I think we learned so much on the first go 'round that we should be able to be a little more efficient on the next batch," he said. "You have to love boats, so you build it as though you were going to build it for yourself."

"If you love it, then you can put out a pretty good product."

David Giroux of Dettah built his first boat last year. He needed one for his one-man commercial fishing company and said he couldn't afford to buy a brand-new outfit, so he set to work on his own. Giroux built a 22-foot, flat-bottomed skiff from plywood and about 10 pounds of screws, but he had no formal plan.

"I knew a guy here who had a boat similar to what I wanted, so I went over there and took some measurements and took it from there."

Getting the proper angle and slope of the hull was the hardest part, Giroux said.

"It took a lot of shaping, cutting and planning to get it that way," he said. "It took about six to eight weeks to complete."

But sometimes great plans get changed mid-stream, he said.

"It started out to be a skiff, but it ended up being more like a scow," Giroux said. "If I put more angle on it and work on the front a bit, it will turn out the way I want it."

He prides himself in his work and his independence, but he was not shy about seeking advice from others on boat building.

"No man is an island," he smiled.