A Steadfast Man and His Boat
Steadfast_FINAL.QXD 7/26/07 1:41 PM Page 72 ASteadfast Man and His Boat Building a French pilot cutter in Australia by Ingrid Code Photographs by Steb Fisher TEADFAST is a French pilot cutter launched last Laurence Etheredge is the captain, builder, and owner year at Emu Point in Albany, Western Australia. She of STEADFAST. He is a tall, thin man with large, strong Swas built on the lines of JOLIE BRISE, the last of the hands, a long stride, and a reddish beard. He is calm, true working pilot cutters of Le Havre. Her story is one casual, meditative, joyous, unassuming, resolute, and that encompasses a love of traditional wooden boats, 16 determined. You might say he is stubborn—or perhaps years of construction, unique Australian timbers, a steadfast. He has a thoughtful, quiet manner of speak- Benedictine community, and the remarkable resolve ing, listens to others, and is open to suggestions. There and perseverance of the man behind it all, Laurence is something of a boyish enthusiasm in the way he talks Etheredge. about his boat. STEADFAST, a recently launched cutter inspired by the famous French-built JOLIE BRISE of 1913, ghosts along under full sail on Tasmania’s Derwent River, with Mount Wellington in the background. Inset—Builder Laurence Etheredge on the foredeck. 72 •WoodenBoat 198 Steadfast_FINAL.QXD 7/26/07 1:42 PM Page 73 STEADFAST’s tidy galley incorporates a number of Australian hardwoods (see sidebar, page 76): the countertop and deckbeams are of jarrah and the dish lockers are of Queensland beech. I first heard about STEADFAST while trying to make arrangements to reach the Australian Wooden Boat Festival in Tasmania.
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