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A Unit of Water, a Unit of Time: Joel White's Last Boat
In a time when racing boats are mass-produced from synthetic materials, a dying breed of craftsman continues to build wooden sailboats of astonishing beauty. Boatbuilding is an ancient art, and Joel White was a master. Son of the legendary writer E.B. White, he was raised around boats and his designs were as sublime and graceful as his father's prose. At a boatyard in Maine, White and his closely knit team of builders brought scores of his creations from blueprints into the ocean.
In June 1996, six months after being diagnosed with cancer, Joel White began designing the W-76, an exquisite racing yacht. It was his final masterpiece. Douglas Whynott spent a year at Brooklin Boat Yard, observing as this design took shape, first in sketches and then during the painstaking building of the wooden craft.
The result is the poignant tale of both a genius at work and the people devoted to his art. Evoking E.B. White's New England and its salty residents, A Unit of Water, a Unit of Time is a classic portrait of dignity, charm, and humble magnificence-and of a maritime community that keeps a vanishing world alive.
In June 1996, six months after being diagnosed with cancer, Joel White began designing the W-76, an exquisite racing yacht. It was his final masterpiece. Douglas Whynott spent a year at Brooklin Boat Yard, observing as this design took shape, first in sketches and then during the painstaking building of the wooden craft.
The result is the poignant tale of both a genius at work and the people devoted to his art. Evoking E.B. White's New England and its salty residents, A Unit of Water, a Unit of Time is a classic portrait of dignity, charm, and humble magnificence-and of a maritime community that keeps a vanishing world alive.
322 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 16, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 8, 2019
This one's about Joel White, founder of the Brooklin (Maine) Boatyard and son of essayist/author E.B. White whose Charlottes's Web was read to my daughters and whose Elements of Style was kept handy during my ad agency work
Despite my years of sailing and my steadfast admiration of wooden sailboats, I was unaware of E.B.'s son Joel until a neighbor at the dock loaned me Douglas Whynott's A Unit of Water, A Unit of Time. It's a mellow, thoughtful read—yet also sharp and efficient in its tale of a man at the end of his life winding down what time he has left in a field that's as much art as it is industry.
Considered a top designer of wooden boats, White's creations ranged in size from dinghies to yachts, all sharing the common theme of simplicity. Or, in another word, elegance. For White, this was not just a look and a cleaner way of moving with grace across water, it was a mindset. A "way of being" that he quietly brought to life with skill, perseverance and good humor during four decades at boatyard on the Eggemoggin Reach between Blue Hill and Penobscot Bays in the heart of the best cruising grounds on the coast of Maine.
Whynott's time with him—an opportunity I equate to hanging out with famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, poet/activist Carl Sandburg, or Blues Guitarists Robert Johnson—preserves real face time with one of the last of the great ones before the world plugged in, turned on, tuned in and dropped out (i.e., before it became tone deaf and indifferent to the charming old world ways of doing things, of going about one's life with loveliness and modesty).
To be clear, this is not a story of what was. It's one of what still can be. That is if the world had less plastic in it and more Joel B. Whites.
Despite my years of sailing and my steadfast admiration of wooden sailboats, I was unaware of E.B.'s son Joel until a neighbor at the dock loaned me Douglas Whynott's A Unit of Water, A Unit of Time. It's a mellow, thoughtful read—yet also sharp and efficient in its tale of a man at the end of his life winding down what time he has left in a field that's as much art as it is industry.
Considered a top designer of wooden boats, White's creations ranged in size from dinghies to yachts, all sharing the common theme of simplicity. Or, in another word, elegance. For White, this was not just a look and a cleaner way of moving with grace across water, it was a mindset. A "way of being" that he quietly brought to life with skill, perseverance and good humor during four decades at boatyard on the Eggemoggin Reach between Blue Hill and Penobscot Bays in the heart of the best cruising grounds on the coast of Maine.
Whynott's time with him—an opportunity I equate to hanging out with famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, poet/activist Carl Sandburg, or Blues Guitarists Robert Johnson—preserves real face time with one of the last of the great ones before the world plugged in, turned on, tuned in and dropped out (i.e., before it became tone deaf and indifferent to the charming old world ways of doing things, of going about one's life with loveliness and modesty).
To be clear, this is not a story of what was. It's one of what still can be. That is if the world had less plastic in it and more Joel B. Whites.
July 18, 2018
If you've ever been to Brooklin, Maine, read any E.B. White, sailed a wooden boat or spent days at a woode,n boat shipyard - you'll be able to smell the salt air, the shavings from wood planing and spar varnish. And it is a wonderful scent. Joel White was a boat designer and yard owner who cared about the sea, his workers and his designs - which sail marvelously.
August 5, 2016
This book is meticulously reported, but the ambitious author waters down the true story: the career of Joel White and his last design project.
The book isn't as much about cancer-stricken White and the final year or so of his life as it as about the workers in the shop and their winter boatbuilding projects. When the story opens, Joel White had long before handed his son Steve the operation of the shop and merely stops by occasionally to draw up plans. Douglass Whynott attempts to bio each employee and detail each boat construction, but there are just way too many people to keep up with. As if that wasn't enough, the author also touches on the other boat builders--past and present--of Brooklin. Too overwhelming.
Whynott doesn't help things by using a lot jargon familiar to only the most knowledgeable wooden boat aficionados. It would fine if he explained the terms, but he frequently didn't. A glossary at the back would've been a great help.
The story would have been much had all the extracurricular boatbuilding info been tossed out and instead the book focused on White and his last design project. Unfortunately, all that unnecessary extra info ruined the book.
The book isn't as much about cancer-stricken White and the final year or so of his life as it as about the workers in the shop and their winter boatbuilding projects. When the story opens, Joel White had long before handed his son Steve the operation of the shop and merely stops by occasionally to draw up plans. Douglass Whynott attempts to bio each employee and detail each boat construction, but there are just way too many people to keep up with. As if that wasn't enough, the author also touches on the other boat builders--past and present--of Brooklin. Too overwhelming.
Whynott doesn't help things by using a lot jargon familiar to only the most knowledgeable wooden boat aficionados. It would fine if he explained the terms, but he frequently didn't. A glossary at the back would've been a great help.
The story would have been much had all the extracurricular boatbuilding info been tossed out and instead the book focused on White and his last design project. Unfortunately, all that unnecessary extra info ruined the book.
March 5, 2019
This book is about a family, the sea, and the art of boatbuilding. Anyone who has spent time in or around a boatyard understands the marriage between family and boatbuilding. Just as wood breathes and expands over time, so does the boatyard. With its workers, its love of an art, generations of young and old, it is a family. Joel White and the story of his last boat embody all of this, which is beautifully told in Douglas Whynot’s book, A Unit of Water, a Unit of Time.
See my full review of this book at the link below:
http://rheller.bangordailynews.com/20...
See my full review of this book at the link below:
http://rheller.bangordailynews.com/20...
May 18, 2008
Loved EB White, have been to Brooklin Boat Yard, live in an antique house and love to sail....so I bought the book. I enjoyed it but I think the book would have a distinct and unique audience.
Saw the W-Class boats on the docks in St. Barts one winter, alongside the mega-yacts, Ultima III (owned by Revson) and various billionare yachts.
There is nothing in the world that compares to the beauty of a handcrafted wooden boat. To build one or to own one is a true labor of love.
A book to be enjoyed by lovers of wood and craftsmanship.
Saw the W-Class boats on the docks in St. Barts one winter, alongside the mega-yacts, Ultima III (owned by Revson) and various billionare yachts.
There is nothing in the world that compares to the beauty of a handcrafted wooden boat. To build one or to own one is a true labor of love.
A book to be enjoyed by lovers of wood and craftsmanship.
April 14, 2011
I have been involved with boats on the West Coast since the late '70's. At the same time, there was a convergence of interest and craftsmanship for wooden boat building on the east coast (principally in Maine). The east coast activities were ones that I was knowledgeable on a sporadic basis.
This book was a real treat to me since it filled in the pieces to my history of east coast (and wooden) boatbuilding.
I also like E. B. White also.
This book was a real treat to me since it filled in the pieces to my history of east coast (and wooden) boatbuilding.
I also like E. B. White also.
June 22, 2012
Despite the subtitle, this is a book about boat builders and owners (and implicitly how the author identifies with them), not about boats or a boat. It is fairly well-written but not in a style that I enjoy. Particularly, I was conscious of the writing and the author the entire time.
August 11, 2011
Truly lyrical. About a topic which I would normally have no interest in. Exactly the sort of book which makes it worthwhile to read something random every now and again.
August 26, 2019
A blending of boat building, history of Brooklin, ME, Joel White, the White family, E.B.White, Herreshoff boats and much much more. A lot of technical boat building description.
June 9, 2008
because i own one of joel white's boats this book was quite wondrous.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews