Alex Gatt is one of a kind ... actually, he is one of only three traditional boat builders who are still around.
Coming from a family of Vittoriosa boatmen, Mr Gatt, 42, was yesterday morning applying the finishing touches to his latest creation – a fancy boat for the Cospicua regatta club.
“We are a dying breed,” Mr Gatt said as he carefully painted the word Bormla on the side of the boat named after former prime minister Dom Mintoff.
With a pencil resting on his ear and sitting on a plastic beer crate, Mr Gatt calmly dipped the brush into the can and in measured strokes painted out the letters.
He said this was a hobby for him and one to which he dedicated time and passion. “I would like to see more people learn how to do this because it is the first step for anyone interested in studying naval architecture.”
Mr Gatt started work on the boat in January but had sketched the design in the previous months. Putting the structure together was a painstaking carpentry job that required accuracy and patience.
The craftsmanship involved has nothing to do with what seems to be the modern-day trend of building fibreglass boats. The work involved is poles apart, according to Mr Gatt.
Wood has never gone out of fashion but more people opted for fibreglass because it needed much less maintenance, he explained.
“These people only appreciate a boat in the sea and don’t bother about maintenance, so for them fibreglass is a comfortable choice.” Mr Gatt believes that the real fun of owning a boat is looking after it, making sure it is ready for use at the start of the season. This required dedication, he admitted.
Unfazed by the fibreglass onslaught and the dying wooden craftsmanship, Mr Gatt said the Italian company Riva produced world-class wooden boats coveted by super stars.
Dom Mintoff was the city’s most famous son, who did his hometown proud
“A wooden boat is considered a luxury.”
The boat in front of him may not be a prestigious Riva but is an example of craftsmanship that values form and function. After all, Dom Mintoff will be a racing boat vying for the top place in the Tal-Midalji race.
The boat is likely to debut in the September 8 Victory Day races in Grand Harbour, but Mr Gatt said this depended on how comfortable the rowers felt with it.
The boat will carry four oarsmen and over the next few weeks they will be testing its performance at sea.
Asked about the boat’s name, Mr Gatt said he saw no controversy.
“After all, the boat was commissioned by the Cospicua regatta club and Dom Mintoff was the city’s most famous son, who did his hometown proud.”
Mr Gatt then laboured away at the final details as he stood in the workshop of the Cospicua regatta club’s warehouse, which welcomed people for an open day.
It may have been the first time people were exposed to the craftsmanship of a traditional boat builder... one of three passionate artisans who refuse to let fibreglass have its way.
ksansone@timesofmalta.com