The boating community, the wooden boat community, lost a dear friend this past month. Richard Fewtrell, shipwright extraordinaire, exceptional musician, succumbed to complications from pneumonia.

Richard was more than just a shipwright with skills and insights that left all of us seeking his sage advice. He was a compassionate, soulful man, with an extremely wry sense of humor. A man with a rich history of experience accrued over a lifetime of working on wooden boats. A man I went to, many times to discuss the time induced malady's of NIFTY III, our 1939 ELCO Cruisette, of which Richard would give thoughtful, concise advice, always with a twist of humor.

He loved what he did, and he infused that love into the work he performed. We will all miss a man that had a profound impact on so much of us.