The First Boat

Excerpt from an interview with François-Xavier, where he tells the story of the construction and sale of his first yacht.

[François-Xavier Lachance] The first yacht I built, of all, with my brother … there is my brother who lived here. In the summer he was a longshoreman in Montreal, working at the water’s edge in Montreal and in the summer … and winter he was coming back, spending the winter here. And then in the autumn, “are we building a yacht? ” he said.

I had bought wood in the summer. I said, “Okay, we’re going to build a 38 feet. ” The first I did.

I sold it in the spring. We did it in the spring, the month of May, and … at that time, it was almost … it was one of the most beautiful in Quebec [laughs]. The guys said, “it’s  comfortable, your yacht and all”.

I had sold it to Dr. Fortier. He kept it 5-6 years, 7 years. He sold it … he sold it to a … for fathers in the Côte-Nord. He made me rebuild another in ’35 huh, in ’35, I built him a 50 feet.