A Craftsman of Great Talent

Jean-François Lachance shares his admiration for the work of his grandfather, a self-taught carpenter.

Jean-François Lachance, grandson of François-Xavier Lachance, is in the rowboat shop of the Parc maritime de Saint-Laurent. He speaks to an interviewer on the right side of the camera.

[Jean-François Lachance] The traditional know-how of Grandpa, in fact, it was inherited from his father … 

Black and white photograph showing the parents of François-Xavier Lachance, their 13 children and their dog, followed by the detail of the picture showing the young François-Xavier in close-up.

[J.-F. L.] and François-Xavier certainly learned from his brothers also to build because …

Black and white photograph where three men push a rowboat on the snowy shore.

[J.-F. L.] he tells in his interviews that his brothers were in a hurry to have a boat.

Back on Jean-François Lachance in the rowboat shop.

[J.-F. L.] As soon as they arrived at 12-13 years old, they made themselves their own boat, their yacht.

Video sequence inside the rowboat shop where the interview is taking place. Panorama from right to left, showing three rowboats and tools on the wall, near two windows.

[J.-F. L.] After talking with a marine carpenter from Neuville,

Back on Jean-François Lachance in the rowboat shop.

[J.-F. L.] who was very impressed by the quality of work of a man who had not studied marine carpentry, who inherited his know-how from his family … and I think also by the hard work he put in his craftmanship during all these years, he became an excellent carpenter in marine carpentry.

Video sequence in the rowboat shop showing the interior of a rowboat, then moving to a second one on the right.

[J.-F. L.] In a boat there is nothing straight, huh. A boat is all curves. It’s always a challenge for a cabinetmaker or a carpenter to make curves

Back on Jean-François Lachance in the rowboat shop.

[J.-F. L.] and the naval carpentry really requires … nothing is plane, nothing is really squared.

Video sequence in the rowboat shop showing Jean-François observing a rowboat with attention. Close up on the front of the boat.

[J.-F. L.] It requires a really seasonned eye and a good knowledge of plans reading too,

Back on Jean-François Lachance in the rowboat shop.

[J.-F. L.] but a lot of eyesight because I know that Grandpa worked a lot by eyesight, he had a precision, when he was making… I mostly saw him do his little boat models and then …

Video sequence in the rowboat shop showing the hands of Jean-François holding the model of a sailboat.

[J.-F. L.] he was doing his models

Video clip showing Jean-François’s hand pointing a metal plate on the top of the model where it says “F.X. LACHANCE – ST-LAURENT I.O.”

[J.-F. L.] really to the plane then to the sander,

Back on Jean-François Lachance in the rowboat shop.

[J.-F. L.] but both sides were identical. It was … it was not two pieces, machined like in a mirror that he was sticking together … He machined his two pieces like that then …

Video clip showing model of a yacht in close-up, moving from left to right.

[J.-F. L.] it was all done by eye.