Retired carpenter builds custom pirate ship as pandemic project

Bob Winslow'spandemic project is sure toblowmost others out of the water.

After months spent over the fall, winter and spring working with scraps from old furniture and laminate flooring, Winslowset sail on Skiff Lake about 45 km south of Woodstock, N.B.aboard his very own pirate ship, named theMenacing Manner.

"Basically you get boredduring COVID, so it all came together," said Winslow, an artist and retired carpenter who lives along Skiff Lake.

Inspiration for the project first hit him two years ago, when he purchased a 13-inch model of the Mayflower ship at a second-hand storeto serve as a reminder that some of his ancestors came to North America aboard it in 1620.

Then last year, he inherited a 13-foot fibre-glass boat thatbelonged to a dear friend of his who passed away.

As the summer went on, he slowly collected scrap material including a water bed with its wooden frame, discarded cabinets and laminate flooring that came out of a school gymnasium and in September, he got to work putting it all together, using the boat as a base, and the Mayfloweras inspiration.

With the addition of a nine horsepower outboard motor, some fresh paint and artistic touches, the boat was about180 pounds heavier, and the whole thing cost about $100.

He did most of it minus the heavy lifting despite suffering from arthritis that hasleft him with replacement jointsin both shoulders, carpal tunnel syndromein his wrists, and pain in his hips and back.

"So any lifting or anything like that, I do it with, you know, jacks and come-alongs and my son, Luke, he comes up every once in a while whenever I need a lift."

Winslow said he got the waterbed from a neighbour, who'd had it since the 1980s, and got the discarded cupboards from another neighbour.

"Another neighbour gave me sewer pipeand I took it and I made the cannons out of it.

"So it'sa conglomeration of everybody's waste, and I just don't see it as that.I repurpose things."

His son, John "Luke" Winslow, said he put in about 20 hours withhis father, helping him lift and hoist heavy materials, and eventually launch the boat on the lake on a sunny June 13.

"Well, I guess he's the brains and I'm the brawn," he said.

"So, you know, he needs help withmoving the heavy parts, like the actualbottom half of the boat or the ship, I should say."

Winslow said despite his father's arthritis, he's never been one to sit still, and always "pushes the limit" with whatever projecthe takes on.

"Time and time again, he, you know, proves that he's a hard worker, really, even despite his limitations now. It's pretty remarkable."

Bob Winslow said the only addition he plans to make is toinstall water guns on the boat, to give the cannons some actual firepower.

"We've had water fights with a few families around the lake in the past, and so I drove the boat overand I said, 'If you want to have a water fight now, you better be ready',and they all laughed and cheered and said 'Yes, we're going for another water fight'."