This is quite a labor of love. It would be easier to build a boat from scratch, but I'm not knocking what he's doing- I think it's great to see boats get restored. I guess I should word it different- this is even harder than building one from scratch.

Where I live, there is one of the oldest haul-outs in the Caribbean- the Creque Marine Railway on Hassel Island. I am President of the St. Thomas Historical Trust, and it's one of our projects to try to restore some of the equipment left there from the days of sail and of steam. There is a huge steam engine that would drive a winch to haul boats up the marine railway, and there were huge lathes, drill presses, and the likes that would run off leather belts from that and a smaller steam engine. Prior to that, they would haul boats out with mules and manpower, or careen them in Careening Cove, nearby on the same island. They did quite a bit of work there, and with Charlotte Amalie Harbor being the busiest Caribbean port in the sailing days, it was always packed with sailing ships. Imagine what these guys had to do with little resources. If they needed a special part, it had to be shipped from the mainland.

Sadly, the building that houses the old steam engine and winch was very badly damaged in the storms, and it's just about beyond repair now, so efforts are more for preservation of what's left than complete restoration. I'm glad to see someone preserving a bit of sailing history, and it would be amazing for her to race again.