By Shauna Jemmott

“I DIDN’T really learn the trade with somebody,” he said. “I just, of meh own commonsense, decide to try a thing.”One sometimes has to identify one’s passion, and press on in order to reap great rewards from one’s gifts and talents. One man who simply had a hunger for progress has made boat-building his magnum opus even though he has had no formal training in the craft.

Sixty-seven-year-old Kenneth Daniels, who hails from the Pomeroon, now lives at Two Friends, East Coast Demerara.

There is no denying that boat-building is in his blood; he was born and raised in the Region 2 district of Pomeroon/Supenaam, where water transportation is the most dominant means of getting around.

“We Pomerooners know to make boat, you know; that’s our trade!” Daniels proudly told the Sunday Chronicle recently.

And even though his first attempt at boat-building was a success, he knew from early that he needed to focus if he wanted to become a successful boat-builder.

A SPECIAL SKILL
Boat-building is not as easy as it sounds; there are a few technicalities one needs to master in order to get it right. Or, as Daniels puts it, there are parts which take a special skill and a strong will in order to put them together correctly.

“These boats get one-and-two technical parts that you gotta know,” the accomplished boat-builder said. “If somebody come and measure boat like that, they can’t really make it like duh. No matter the measurement, it got a technique inside,” he disclosed.

Mr Daniels is the “go-to” man on the East Coast when it comes to boat-building. His customers come from all across Guyana, and there are those who come from as far away as the United States. What is incredible in all of this is that Daniels works alone.

He’s not the only one in the family to make a living off boat-building, he said; there are others back in the Pomeroon who also make boats. One family member has even relocated to Vreed-en-Hoop, on the other side of the Demerara River, where he has started his own boat-building business.

VARIOUS SIZES
Mr Daniels said boats can come in various sizes and lengths, depending on what the customer wants. His specialty, it seems, is the speedboat, which is used primarily for riverine travel. There’s also the flat-bottomed variety, which are highly favoured by farmers, who use them to navigate ‘the backlands’. Those are usually 16 to 18 feet long, and can fetch loads of up to 1000 lbs, whereas the speedboat can carry thrice that amount of weight.

Some farmers attach engines to the flat-bottom boats to make them go faster, while others use bamboo poles to help them navigate the waterways.

“We normally get the wood dressed and everything,” the father of four said. “And then you do some measurements, depending on what shape you want design the boat with…. We got a way that we does set it on a frame and raise up this bow. We does frame it up with the bow and the stern and the centre wood in the middle; they call it the keel. That is how you really does start it; the same way you does build all,” he disclosed.

He works from home, from within the quiet of Nimrod Street, where he lives; and this helps him to concentrate. Working alone, it takes him about a week to finish a boat, as long as he keeps at it every day. And though production can be costly, he still manages to keep his prices “reasonable”.

PRICING
For instance, he said, for a flat-bottom boat, the overall cost of materials alone can cost between $60,000 and $70,000, but he manages to keep his prices down and still turn a profit.

He also offers reconditioning services, as some boats would need some repair and a facelift from time to time. “It’s important, because if you recondition it at the right time, you will get more service from the boat,” Mr Daniels said, adding: “It’s all about caring and maintenance…. With good caring, a boat like this would last a reasonable time — about 15 years or more…”

PREFERRED WOODS
Silverballi and determa are some of the common types of wood used in boat-building, but the former can sometimes be hard to come by.

Anyone interested in finding out more about Mr. Daniels’s boat-building establishment can contact him via telephone on 592-666-8975.