2012 Tribute Dinner

The 21st Annual WoodenBoat Show will feature a tribute dinner honoring Gannon and Benjamin Marine Railway on Saturday evening, June 30 at 6:00 pm in the Boat Shed at Mystic Seaport.

Gannon & Benjamin Marine Railway of Vineyard Haven, MA was established in 1980 by Ross Gannon and Nat Benjamin. They specialize in building traditional boat designs ranging in size from 8′ rowboats to a 65′ schooner. Most of the vessels they build are designed by Nat Benjamin. Their 60′ schooner REBECCA was on the docks at the 2011 WoodenBoat Show and also featured in an article in WoodenBoat No. 146 (Jan/Feb, 1999).

Jon Wilson, Founder and Editor-In-Chief of WoodenBoat magazine says “Following their passion for wooden boats, [Gannon & Benjamin] embarked on an enterprise and a way of life that has brought them—for more than thirty years—peerless reputation and world renown. The Gannon & Benjamin Marine Railway became much more than a small business. The many design and construction endeavors of the yard have brought vitality to the future of traditional wooden boat building, illumination to the finer skills of traditional seamanship, a sense of pride to the people of the island, and something more to the already-unique Vineyard Haven Harbor.”

Tickets for the Tribute Dinner may be purchased until June 22 at NOON (EST) by calling the WoodenBoat Store at 800-273-7447 or online at the WoodenBoat Store. Dinner tickets are $35.00 and seating is limited for this event.

 

2011 Lance Lee Tribute

Thank you to all who came to honor boatbuilder and teacher Lance Lee at our Tribute Dinner in 2011. We were regaled with story after story of this amazing teacher, and impressed at the sheer magnitude of his influence on young people around the world. It was a truly memorable evening.

Lance R. Lee, founder of the Apprenticeshop in 1972, has spent a large part of his career focused on experiential education. He spent over a decade with Outward Bound as an instructor, consultant and site developer, as well as a couple of years as an instructor on a 1700-ton Norwegian barque. Lance co-founded Atlantic Challenge, the international sea competition in 1984, The Apprenticeshop on the Neva in Russia and Atlantic Challenge Russia, as well as the East River Apprenticeshop. Lance was editor of “The Apprentice,” a maritime folklife journal published by the Apprenticeshop from 1981-1989. Lance also published “Twice Round the Loggerhead” (1999), Monographs, “Norse Boatbuilding in North America” and was co-author of “Barns, Beams and Boats.” He is currently working on a book on the Kurt Hahn legacy.