Another local legend and personal friend has left us

Gilligan

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
Legendary boatbuilder Francis Goddard has passed on. I'm sure going to miss that man. We always had a good-natured back and forth going on over several decades, with he always reminding me that I didn't build "real boats" because they "looked wrong" and didn't have any wood in them. And I retorting that his boats would never last because I couldn't weld them back together if they broke. Immense respect for that man's skill as a boatbuilder.

https://seafood.maryland.gov/francis-randolph-goddard/
 
Gilligan

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
Sneakers said:
The name is familiar. Did he work on the restorations at Calvert Marine Museum?
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No. You might be thinking of Pepper Langley. Francis Goddard built skiffs and deadrises from small to large, buyboats, and skipjacks. All right here in Piney Point. One of his last skipjacks is now at Solomons Island operating for tours. "Dee of St. Mary's" is the name.

https://www.calvertmarinemuseum.com/195/Dee-of-St-Marys
 
black dog

black dog

Free America
Gilligan said:
No. You might be thinking of Pepper Langley. Francis Goddard built skiffs and deadrises from small to large, buyboats, and skipjacks. All right here in Piney Point. One of his last skipjacks is now at Solomons Island operating for tours. "Dee of St. Mary's" is the name.

https://www.calvertmarinemuseum.com/195/Dee-of-St-Marys
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That name sounds familiar, did he ever teach some classes over at St Michael's?
.I took a steam bending class their in the 90's while restoring a cat boat.
 
Gilligan

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
limblips said:
I hate to see the old ones pass. So much knowledge and lore go with them. RIP
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Fortunately, Francis was one of those whose oral history was captured by the Slackwater Project folks. So we have that, at least.

Francis was one of the "regular" members of what was jokingly referred to as my "church group"; a bunch of old timers - mostly watermen and/or boat builders - that would congregate at my bar (Swanns) every Sunday morning. This was almost 30 years ago, mind you. I always bartended Sunday mornings to give my staff a break after a busy Fri and Sat and because my Sunday morning crew never asked for any mixed drinks I didn't know how to make. A Black Velvet and Coke (RIP Scribby) was as complicated as it got. Anyway...I'd tend bar and they'd all swap lies and great stories. Endlessly. Of the many things I've regretted, in hindsight, not recording those Sunday morning "church" sessions ranks right up near the top. My oh my Francis Goddard had a lot of stories. Out of my entire Sunday group, Francis Goddard was one of the last one to go... I can think of only two others that are still with us. ;-(
 
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