Island Boy Becomes Boat Building Craftsman
WASHINGTON ISLAND, WI, January 7, 2010 – Thor Purinton loved working with wood and building boats from a young age. While in college he realized he wanted to “build boats and work with his hands for a living.” In 2001 he attended the Landing School in Kennebunkport, Maine, and following that he interviewed with Steve Van Dam for a job as apprentice boatbuilder at Van Dam Woodcraft in Boyne City, Michigan.
Thor Purinton
According to father Dick Purinton, “Thor’s apprenticeship of several years progressed well, and his skills improved along with production speed and understanding of the end-product. This year marks his seventh year with Van Dam, a shop that employs approximately a dozen people, including owner Steve and his wife, Jean.”
During his apprenticeship in Boyne City, Dick says, “Thor’s had both the challenge and the pleasure of learning the boatbuilding process from layout to construction, the finely-fitted details that make each boat uniquely custom, and he’s also learned wiring, hydraulic and mechanical fit-out. Although Van Dam’s products are generally under 30-feet overall, they tend to be packed with electronics and gadgets, some as part of the in-house design package, and others as features that are dreams of owners who enjoy expressing their boating interests through novel, personally designed features.”
“For custom vessels,” Dick says, “Van Dam’s products are surprisingly competitive in the marketplace against high-end fiberglass boats, models which are basically mass-produced from a mold with selected custom choices in finishing left to the owners. Each Van Dam hull is cold-molded of thin layers of wooden strips and epoxy, and this results in a strong, light hull that holds up extremely well over time.”
For those of you fortunate enough to see it, Van Dam’s custom boat-making was featured in an hour-long show called “American Craftsmen” on the Discovery HD channel on New Year’s Eve. It was re-run several times on New Year’s Day as well, and will, hopefully, eventually make it to the flagship Discovery channel where many more people can view it.
Thor Purinton
In the meantime, if you’d like to learn more about Van Dam’s building process and follow some beautiful boats-in-the-making, visit the Van Dam Woodcraft website at www.vandamboats.com.
[Used with permission from Dick Purinton’s blog at ferrycabinnews.blogspot.com]
