I was born in Allentown, PA, and didn’t get interested in boats until I moved to California. I restored an old canoe and then built my first cedar strip canoe. Then I got interested in sailing so I built a Cat-rigged Herreshoff dinghy, using all traditional boat building techniques. I used to travel to Cape Cod frequently and was always fascinated by the wooden boats.
One day on Facebook, I saw Call of the Sea was looking for volunteers and it seemed it was for a great cause. I have been volunteering for approximately 10 years. My favorite part has been working with all the great volunteers.
Frank Schlosser, left, with fellow volunteer Mark Muller.
It didn’t matter if we were sanding for weeks on end, the camaraderie and the fascinating people I met kept me engaged in the whole building process.
Shipwrights Franz Baichl and Richard O’Keefe taught me how important it was to be precise. They really upped my craft. Here I am with Franz.
With the scale of the build, I learned so much. My time working with Alan Olson was some of the best times. We often chatted about life and our experiences. I learned a lot from “the old man and the sea”. His adventures inspired me, and encouraged me to buy my first sailboat on the San Francisco Bay.