Fred Apstein
The source
Fred Apstein, now 70 years of age, was born and raised in Washington State’s Puget Sound, a true maze of saltwater courses. He moved to Gabriola Island with his Canadian wife and their sailboat in 1994 after 30 years of “very good living, with very little money” in the harbour city of Port Townsend near Seattle. Fred used to work in the boat industry, and was the force behind founding the shipyard school on Gabriola Island.
“Silva Bay Shipyard School was my idea. The owner of the property wanted to tear it down and build timeshare condos. He agreed to let me rebuild the shipyard if I could find the money. I created a not-for-profit society and got half a million dollars in job creation grants.
“We hired out-of-work fishermen, to help them learn carpentry skills and do other kinds of work. I ran the school for a little more than ten years.”
Sadly, the school closed a few years ago, but it inspired many young people to get involved with wooden boats. In one way or another, most of the characters I meet on Gabriola Island are into boatbuilding and sailing because of Fred Apstein.
Today, Fred owns a sweet little blue 21ft boat to sail the Strait of Georgia and feel the breeze of where he has sailed throughout his life. Many of his friends love to visit him to play bluegrass music, Fred’s’ other passion.