The TaraCarol
by
Mark Smith
Our buddy Barrie Reid had us up to
his place in New Glasgow one weekend to fish the East Pictou River for salmon. Little did we know he had a surprise
for all of us. He was just waiting for the right time to tell us.
During a game of poker Barrie said, "I’ve got some news to tell you guys. I bought a camp on the St. Mary's
River for all of us to use." At first we thought he was pulling our legs, but soon realized he was telling the
truth. We offered to help him pay for it over and over again but he wouldn't take anything towards the purchase of the
camp. All he wanted was a place for all of us to enjoy and fish from for the next 50 or 60 years. We agreed that we would
at least lend a helping hand around the camp. So we came up as the idea of building a traditional/modernized version of a
St. Mary's river long boat for Barrie, as a gift.
We built it over the course of 5 months in the winter of 2007-2008 in my father’s garage. It is 19.5'
long. We borrowed my buddy’s car trailer to haul it from Porters Lake to the Waternish Rd. It is a little deeper and
wider than the traditional sizes, made from marine grade 3/4 plywood, fiberglassed on all seams and butt joints. The seat
decks are made out of cedar decking. Each seat and front and rear platform is hinged so they double as storage compartments
and one seat has a built in cooler. The bow has a stainless checker plate guard and aluminum arm that supports the anchor. The
anchor line runs from the stern to the bow through pex pipe that's used for water line in a new home. It helps protect
the line from damage. The stern also has a stainless checker plate guard with a motor mount and two carrying handles. The
top edge of her is protected with strips of puck board as is the bottom of her, four strips from bow to stern.
We named her the "TaraCarol" after
Barrie’s wife and daughter, and he really enjoyed that. We had her name machined into two pieces of aluminum and
place them on the sides for an added touch. You should have seen his face when the four of us carried it down to the
camp. Barrie had no idea. This is just another great story of how fishing can bring friends even closer together!
The builders’ names
are Joe Robichaud, Jason Tremblay, Phil Hatcher, and myself, Mark Smith. I'd like to send a big “thank you”
out to my father for letting us tie up his garage for 5 months of the winter.
Thanks Dad!
Mark Smith
