Carpenter builds boat from dump scraps
Avid recycler crafts 16-foot pontoon boat made from parts found at Yellowknife's solid waste facility
Lindy Carpenter shows off "Scrappy," his 16-foot pontoon boat built entirely out of materials found at the dump, at his workshop in Kam Lake. - Cody Punter/NNSL photo |
Cody Punter
Northern News Services
Published Monday, July 21, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
As an avid recycler who was born on the coast of Newfoundland, local woodworker Lindy Carpenter has two particularly cherished pastimes: salvaging at the dump and fishing.
Recently, Carpenter combined his passions by constructing a 16-foot pontoon boat almost entirely out of materials he found at the city's solid waste facility.
"I can't afford a boat but I have lots of ideas," said Carpenter.
A retired welder, Carpenter spends most of his days designing and putting together recycled projects at his workshop in Kam Lake. Carpenter said he was struck with the inspiration to build his boat nearly two years ago, when he spotted two large aluminum awnings lying in a scrap heap on one of his regular trips to the dump.
"I could see pontoon written all over them," he said.
Like so many other projects, Carpenter started to map out the blueprints for his new boat as soon as he identified the scraps' potential.
"I can actually build a thing in my head and dissemble them ... Like I can see the parts where they go," he said. "I don't know if anybody else can do that."
Over the next while Carpenter kept his eyes open for the remaining components that would be required to complete his project. One week he grabbed some thick sheets of plywood to build a platform for people to stand on; then he found some aluminum boxes which could be used to store fishing gear and double as seats for his passengers; he picked up some disused steering and throttle cables one day. On another day he grabbed some aluminum crossbeams that would be used as a frame to keep everything in place.
But perhaps Carpenter's most important find was an old jet-boat that was left in the dump's salvage area. Carpenter would end up pulling the steering console from the hull and using it as the command centre for his hybrid creation. Meanwhile, he fastened the hull underneath the plywood platform of his boat to help stabilize it. To provide additional buoyancy, Carpenter injected the aluminum pontoons with high density foam, which he conveniently found in seven unopened tubes at the dump.
Although he has rescued several motorboat engines from the solid waste facility in the past, Carpenter said one of the only unsalvaged items on the boat is its 25-horsepower outboard motor, which was donated to him by his son-in-law.
"I could have recycled the motor too, but (staff at the solid waste facility) wouldn't let me take it," he said
Once Carpenter's Frankenstein creation was considered seaworthy, he fittingly christened it "Scrappy" - although he had to do so without the time-honoured tradition of smashing a bottle of champagne across the bow before its maiden voyage.
"I can't afford that and I couldn't find any at the dump," joked Carpenter.
What makes Carpenter's achievement all the more amazing is that he lost his left arm at the age of five. Whenever people wonder how he is able to be so productive with the use of just one arm, Carpenter is quick to point out that it didn't stop him from being a welder for more than 40 years.
"I'm certainly not handicapped," he said.
Carpenter added that what he lacks in limbs he makes up for in ingenuity.
"Arms are never the issue if you can put your mind to it," he said.
In fact to make it easier for him to fish, Carpenter crafted a special net which is attached to the side of his boat and is operated through a series of levers and pulleys with a foot pedal.
"I'm not smart. I just learned to think," he said.
Carpenter has used the boat twice since he finished it and said he plans to use it much more to go fishing and to take his family up their cabin on Prosperous Lake. Carpenter said he has managed to fit nine adults, two dogs, and three coolers full of food and beer on the boat without having it sink down more than an inch. When it is not weighed down with family and gear, Carpenter said Scrappy maxes out at about 20 km/h.
"She's not fast but she's great for fishing off," he said.
