Grey-Bruce Boomers Winter2023

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THE BUCKET LIST and thread – and sometimes an old Singer sewing machine – to fashion sails, rigging, and rope ladders for his model ships. He does admit, however, that despite his sewing prowess, he still accidentally jabs himself with needles on a regular basis. “It’s one of the hazards of the job,” he laughed. Even after decades of building ships, it is still an allconsuming passion. When Tom is working on a ship, he becomes so engrossed that he often loses track of time. “I’ll be down in my basement workshop and suddenly realize that I don’t know if it is day or night,” he admitted. “The hours just fly by and I don’t notice. It sometimes gets so bad that my partner has to drag me out of what she calls my dungeon for meals.” He wouldn’t have it any other way, though. He thrives on coming up with ideas for model vessels and then using his hands to make those ideas a reality. There is no shortage of ideas for Tom, either. They come from the extensive reading he does on naval warships and marine merchant ships, and from documentaries he watches on explorers who ventured onto the seas to discover different parts of the world. Or from the fact that he was one of the volunteers who, with shovel in hand, helped unearth the HMS Hunter on the Southampton beach some two decades ago. A veteran of the War of 1812, the British warship HMS General Hunter was captured by the Americans in 1813. Put to work for the U.S. Army, the ship spent years transporting supplies up and down the Great Lakes – until a fateful day in August 1816. A ferocious storm swept across Lake Huron, driving the vessel ashore just south of the Saugeen River. The crew escaped, but the ship met its doom. Unable to be rescued, the Hunter was set afire by the U.S. Army. The vessel’s remains lay hidden for 185 years, until April 2001, when timbers from her frame were found poking through the sand on the Southampton beach, like whale bones. With the help of countless volunteers, the ship was exhumed; it was studied and catalogued by archaeologists; then reburied to preserve it. Today a plaque on the Southampton beach marks the final resting place of the ancient warship. While innumerable people have offered “big dollars” to buy Tom’s model ships, he has never been able to part with one, except for his model of the General Hunter, which is currently on display in the <strong>Bruce</strong> County Museum & Cultural Centre. As he tells it, he builds the vessels for pleasure, not reward, and he wants to hold onto each of his handcrafted ships. 24 • GREYBRUCEBOOMERS.COM
y Doug Archer “Having this passion keeps me going. Even at my age, it is still wonderful to get up every day and go to work. Then seeing the finished product after years of effort, and being able to say, ‘I built that’, is beyond words.” Tom said he’ll continue to create his model ships so long as his hands remain steady. Holding out his hands he says, “And right now they are steady!” Doug Archer is a local writer who enjoys celebrating the multifaceted lives of the 50-plus generation. He is also the author of three locally set mystery-adventure novels. Learn more at www. coldcasekids.com or email archer@bmts.com. Embrace Winter Thermal Journey | Massages | Gift Cards SCANDINAVE.COM Learn how we make clean energy and medical isotopes at the <strong>Bruce</strong> Power Visitors’ Centre. Wonder. Explore. Discover. www.brucepower.com/visit 3394 BRUCE ROAD 20, NORTH OF TIVERTON, WEST OF HIGHWAY 21. T: (519) 361-7777 WINTER 2023/24 • 25
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Grey-Bruce Boomers Winter2023

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