Robert Lednum with boatbuilder Maynard Lowery looking on as Maynard's latest boat is prepared for the first sail with new owners and me. 
Maynard looks-on in the background as I instruct the new owners on how to raise the sail of "Pyewacket", a 16 foot catboat designed by Fenwick Williams and built by Maynard.There are goals in life. Some are short-term; others are far off into the unknown. Goals are important to have. I start off this entry decribing one of my mentors, boat builder Maynard Lowery of Tilghman Island. Maynard is 88 and just completed and launched his "last boat", a 16' Catboat. "Pyewacket" is the 4th "last boat" built during his ninth decade of life. Each of these projects is a goal, providing motivation and focus, enjoyment and life. It is impressive enough for Maynard to have 70 or 100 boats to his credit over his boatbuilding career, but to be continuously productive into his 80's is a fanastic accomplishment.
I hope I can have the longevity of someone like Maynard. Equipped with a pipe and endless stories, Maynard is always ready to share. One knows a story is about to be told when the pipe-work begins: a few taps upside down; the pen-knive comes out and gently scrapes the interior of the bowl; tobacco is scouped out of the pouch, packed and then the lighting sequence begins. Friday's story was born of my own chisel-cutting-finger episode when I had to call my wife Wednesday to come take care of my bleeding hand, because I get too whoosey to deal with it myself.
Maynard's story was one of him climbing a ladder onto a metal roof top, to be high enough to lift a mast out of a boat. As he was standing there ole Bill come along and said, "hey Maynard, what are ye doin?" About that time the ladder started to slide along the roof edge making a clatter sound. It happened so quickly, that the top of the ladder hit ole Bill in the head and knocked him out cold. Maynard, stuck helplessly on the roof top, yelled for help until someone from the next door marina came over. It was Sam, who he didn't know very well. "Come over here, Sam, and help this man," Maynard called. Sam came over and saw the man's partially submerged head covered in blood. Instead of helping, he turned around and ran back to his boat, never to return to help. Another person eventually came to the rescue, Ole Bill got saved with only a few hour visit to the hospital, and Maynard got off the roof. Days later Sam was asked why he wouldn't help the wounded man, and he simply said, "I don't like blood."
I aspire to live my life in the manner which Maynard tells a story or builds a boat: well paced, thoughful, and steady. It is hard to imagine me to slow to Maynard's pace, and maybe I never will. This spring has been the biggest whirlwind of my life. Training for a triathlon is not conducive to accomplishing much else in life. Everything has been affected by my training, yet I feel I am in a learning process about my priorities, my passions, and my life. I may be running around like a chicken with its head cut off, but I am keenly aware of areas in my life that need attention. We'll see how all this plays out after June 8th, the Eagleman.
Trying to squeeze training into work and family has resulted in some creative planning days. Take Wednesday: I took bike in truck with my girls and the carpool boys to Easton, delivered all kids, parked truck at YMCA, rode bike to Oxford; put bike in client's boat, sailed/motored boat and bike to Tilghman, rode bike from Tilghman to home/Wittman, worked, cut hand, got back on bike and rode to YMCA in time for 6pm swim practice. The biking used less fuel and less man hours to accomplish getting all that done without having cars and drivers all over the county. It was a big successful day, except for cutting my hand.
Planning and gear are all part of the work involved in training for adventures.Planning to do all that was a huge task, especially packing bags, clothes, swim gear, and equipment for all the different activities. It was fun, though. When Maynard plans to build a boat, he first makes a list of materials and collects those materials before the first piece of wood is cut. Good planning and preparation makes a good boat. Good planning, training/preparation makes a good race. There are endless parallels to how Maynard works to how an athlete performs. In my eyes, Maynard has broken the 2 hour marathon mark. I can't wait to see his list of materials for his next "last boat".
3 comments:
A fantastic connection, though I am going to bet that you are the only one to use Maynard and running or triathlon in the same sentence before :) I was fortunate enough to visit his shop with our boat yard crew at work and here some stories and flip through some of his albums. Awesome stuff. Your tri training certainly seems to be coming together like a sweet cat boat with less than a month to go now! Many thanks for tour-guiding the run this morning, and keep up the good training, writing, boat building, etc.
Sorry to have to tell you that Maynard Lowery and his sister were killed today (August 18th, 2008), after their car was struck by a police car going 80 MPH in a 35 MPH zone. Maynard was not only an inspiration as a boat-builder, but also as an airplane restorer. In 1987, I bought his airplane. It was, as you'd expect, full of great craftsmanship. I was 22 years old, and I remember that he had a twinkle in his eye that reminded me of Santa Claus. He enjoyed seeing my joy and youthful enthusiasm. I'm learning that people like him are rare. He will be truly missed.
Buck, thanks for your words. It has been hard, yet, joyful to hear stories like yours about Maynard over the past week. You are "spot-on" with your reference to his Santa-like twinkle in his eye. I was honored to have known him, and even more so to have the pleasure of maintaining many of his boats. What are we going to do with him?
Post a Comment