Western Front
A TEAM OF SHIPWRIGHTS RESURRECTS A PURSE SEINER
WITH A NOBEL CONNECTION FOR A NOBLE CAUSE.
BY JEFF MOSER / PHOTOGRAPHY BY JONATHAN COOPERI descended the amidships ladder into darkness,
the sunlight filtering through apertures in the des-
iccated white oak rib cage. I had boarded from her
stern, walked along a temporary deck and passed
a strange sight: several steel oilers stood on their
heads, their spouts thrust into the horn timber.
A concoction of linseed oil, turpentine and pine
tar was being injected into the old, gently curved
wood to return moisture to the weary frame.
Once belowdecks, I used the massive, Douglas
fir keel as a runway, walking from the original sar-
dine hold to the forward machine room, its tim-
bers scarred by decades of oil and diesel fuel. A
shipwright diligently prepped what remained of
the original wood, and through the disassembled
bow I watched another wright start to shape a new
gripe from deep red—almost purple—Sapele. Be-
yond him, through the open door of the shed, a
composite 100-foot sailboat dominated my view,
in stark contrast to the work of the men and wom-i
Not So Quiet
on the
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