SHIP-SHAPE

In a tiny room adjoining the woodshop in Hopkins Center, John McCallTaylor '03 is bringing a big project to life. Next to him, 46 spruce ribs risefrom an elegant white pine base, like the delicate skeleton of a fish. As otherstudents put finishing touches on boxes and shelves that have taken a fewweeks to complete, McCall-Taylor measures the next piece of Wood he'll addto the frame of the 17-foot rowing boat he's been crafting for almost two years.McCall-Taylor has dreamt of building this skiff since high school. "I guess I justhave water on the brain," he says.

The tall, pony-tailed engineering student began building his three-person boat during sophomore summer. He'd already completed small projects in the woodshop, including a wooden hand plane that convinced woodshop director Greg Elder that McCall-Taylor had what it takes to build a skiff. "Someone must be very into woodworking to make themselves tools," says Elder.

Hooked on sailing since age 3, McCall-Taylor built his first wooden boat from a kit at his Winchester, Massachusetts, home when he was 15. His current boat is based on a design by John Gardner, who spurred a wooden boatmaking revival in the 1960s. With McCall-Taylor hunkering down for 20 hours a week, his boat has taken form, rib by rib, plank by plank. He even used the jewelry shop just down the hallway to fashion hundreds of copper rivets to hold the craft together.

At this point in the process, McCall-Taylor spends most of his time using his hand plane and a chisel, quietly working to finish his boat by graduation. After that, he may turn his passion into a career—he's considering going to grad school to study naval architecture.