OUTLET: The Beacon
A 5-year-old boy approached Tom Brandl and said, “I want to build a boat.”
No problem, Brandl said to Henry Lee.
Brandl and Don Scott, retired respectively from the Marines and Navy, were open for miniature wooden boat-building business during the grand opening of West Marine’s new location in Loehmann’s Plaza Shopping Center in Virginia Beach on Sept. 15.
The pair represented the nonprofit group Nautical Adventures. The organization, originally formed more than 30 years ago to promote boat-building along Norfolk’s waterfront, is about helping the younger generation, said Brandl, who builds wooden boats.
“Our motto is life skills through boatbuilding.”
Green Run resident Matthew Lee said his son, Henry, loves all types of building games. “I build Legos,” Henry proclaimed.
He wasn’t fazed a bit when three young girls appeared and also accepted Brandl’s offer to help them build a model sailboat.
Bayside residents Tom and Leilah Hurlburt, along with their 7-year-old daughter, Brianne, and 5-year-old twins, Madeline and Amelia, decided to take a fun outing, they said. “We’re hoping one day to have a boat,” Tom Hurlburt said.
Brandl gave each of his four guest builders a small piece of boat-shaped wood and a ruler. He instructed them to measure one inch from the front, better known in boat language as the bow. They marked it with a pencil and glued on the boat’s cabin. By the way, Brandl said, the back of the boat is the stern. “I know that,” Henry proudly responded.
Have you ever sawed wood? Brandl asked the children.
To his surprise, the girls nodded their heads. Their father smiled. His job as a Navy Seabee involves carpentry work. The adults helped the little ones saw the tiny pieces of wood needed to form their sailing vessels.
Brandl explained each piece as they glued them together. The mast holds the sails, both the main sail and jib, and the tiller steers the boat, he explained.
Henry
announced he would name his boat “Shark Fin.”
Amelia yawned, but perked up when Brandl said it was time to select the sail colors. She chose aqua; Brianne and Madeline, pink; and Henry, blue. They traced the sail patterns, which they all agreed were shaped like triangles, and cut them out of felt.
Per Brandl’s instructions, each was carefully glued on their boats. The foursome seemed delighted with their finished products. And Brandl praised their efforts. “You girls and boy did a great job!”
Henry trotted off to examine a rowboat and twirl its oars, while the girls hung around to get bracelets made of wood shavings.
Brandl said he hopes to generate more interest in the boat-building program because children learn math and leadership skills, character and self-confidence.
“We want to help disadvantaged youth develop life skills to then become a success in life,” he said.
For more information on Nautical Adventures, contact Brandl at brandlt@cox.net. West Marine’s “Cruising for a Cause” charity celebration Sept. 12 raised nearly $7,000 for area fishing and boating nonprofits.
Cindy Butler Focke, butler496@aol.com
