Dispatch 26: Carpentry at Sea     Print

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Zoe Sandwith

August 27, 2013

There is a common design element that I have come to expect on the ships that I sail on: metal sheeting painted tan, beige, or off-white. The Louis is a different story. There is woodwork all over the ship, which immediately gives the ship a very different feel - a very cozy one in my opinion.

The Louis is designed to be self-sufficient for months if necessary, which means that the ability to do in-house repairs on anything and everything is needed. With so much woodwork around, this means that nestled in the bow on the main deck is a beautifully outfitted carpentry shop, and there is always a carpenter on the crew’s roster.

This trip’s carpenter is Andy Hillier. Andy’s sailed with the coastguard for 5 years, but has been working as carpenter for about one year now. He’s been busy throughout the trip with repairs and other projects, adding to the legacy of the past carpenters. He’s mainly been working on refitting crew cabins. The work is harder to schedule when we’re in the ice – as you might imagine the ship’s motion makes it hard to work in the shop, but when we’re on station it’s calm enough to be cutting. The shop is also open for the other crew members to use for their own projects.