Current student Will Johnson ’17 is the second youngest person ever to build his own 16 foot skiff from start to finish. Will built the boat at local Lowell’s Boat Ship in Amesbury, MA over the past two years. Will found blueprints online of a 16 foot skiff designed by another builder in South Burlington, VT, then set out to build a skiff in which to fish and explore up and down the river. Will began the day his sophomore year ended, often putting in eight hour workdays to build the boat.
This past summer marked the home stretch for Will’s passion project. Between football, lacrosse, and college visits, Will added the rails, built the outer stem, and made a cutout in the transform where an outboard motor could fit. By the time Will finished the boat, he had put in over 650 hours of work. He named the boat “Persistence.” This story became front page news in Newburyport Neighbors Magazine this fall.