A MENTOR. My Oxford Concise defines one as: an experienced and trusted advisor.

I was fortunate to have several in my apprenticeship days. Alec Davidson of Anderson and Christofani, Matt Escobar from Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Phil Clarke a boatbuilder and fine woodworker of Mantoloking, New Jersey.

I was but a 'green pea' just starting my apprenticeship at A&C when Alec took me under his wing. Physically he would remind one of Barry Fitzgerald, the noted character actor in films of the 1940's and 1950's. Small in stature with a quick grin and an unhurried attitude towards things yet the canny wink that bespoke of knowing just how to do a job. Above all he had that principal defining quality that all good mentors should have, patience along with a sense of humor. Alec was from the north of Ireland whilst my ancestors were from the south of Ireland. That had no negative effect on our relationship rather, it gave us a common link to build on. Alec was full of those little tricks of the shipwright trade that make a tough job that much easier. When we would be confronted by a particularly difficult job he would say, "aye Laddy Buck, Me and Thee and We, aye all three of us will work it out and be on time for tea, I'm thinkin".

Matt Escobar was a metal worker and a perfectionist in the true sense of the word. He was always looking to improve some tool or impliment he had acquired during on of his frequent trips to the salvage yards of the San Francisco Bay Area. His self built house and shop in Sonoma, California was the result of his efforts. For example he found two Monel tanked gas fired hot water heaters. After he got them to his shop and inspected them, he found that there was nothing wrong with them beyond clogged burners. He fitted new ones and installed the heaters in his house. One for domestic hot water and the other for the hot water radiant heat system he designed and built for the home.

Matt had begun his apprenticeship in metalworking in one of the several custom body shops in the Los Angeles area that built special car bodies for the movie stars at that time. He was a whiz at welding, metal shaping on the English Wheel, forging parts for his home and shop. When I first met Matt, he had just torn down his 1956 Ford pickup truck for a rebuild. He had laid several large canvas sheets on the floor of his shop and as he cleaned each piece he would bring it in and lay it in order on the canvas. He took every part of that truck apart, every nut, bolt and body part. Each was cleaned in the method it required, be it sand blasting, glass beading, paint stripping, thread chasing etc.. As each piece was done it was immediately given a coating of primer paint and put in an oven he had found in one of his forays in the salvage yards just for that purpose. The primer would be slow baked onto the piece and when cool would be placed in its position on the canvas. Only when each body piece was cleaned and primered did he begin on the engine. That too received the very same treatment, piece by piece. I was flattered and proud when he came to me and asked me to make a new bed for the truck out of Apitong.

Phil Clarke I met when we moved back to the east coast when my father suffered a debilitating stroke. I needed a job and being a stranger to the area knew nothing of working opportunities. I made a couple of visits to local lumber yards inquiring about woodworking jobs in the area, the New Jersey shore around Spring Lake. One fellow mentioned a small boatbuilder and woodworker a few miles south on Barnegat Bay by the name of Phil Clarke. He said he was always swamped with work and might be interested in someone like me who was acquainted with wooden boats. I drove to Phils shop and introduced myself to this grey haired bespeckled crusty old man and he asked me a few questions of a boatbuilding nature. I guess I answered them to his satisfaction for he then asked me to come into his house for a cup of coffee. So began a warm close relationship with Phil that lasted til he died. He had a way with tools, a fine eye for good work and, a canny knack of sizing up potential customers.

When a person would stop by his shop, just off a busy road from the beach front , he would listen, make a few sketches, rub his chin and give a ballpark price on the item in question. The person would either balk at the figure which in that case Phil would thank them for stopping by and show them the door or, if the prospective customer seemed agreeable to the price he would bring out his "book" and write down the info and stick the sketches to the page with a stapler. The "book" I am talking about was a ledger Phil entered all info for a potential job in. He never set a completion time but rather he would say something like...'I am busy for the next X weeks but when I get caught up I will call you and make more definite arraingments, agreed?'. This was accepted by 99 % of the folks.

Now what happened was this. Phil would really be busy but, he did not do work in the order it came in the door. He would complete one job, dig out the 'book' an scan the pages. He was looking for something a bit different from what he had just completed. He would then call the prospective customer and the conversation would go like this..."hello this is Phil Clarke down Mantoloking way. You recall that xxx you inquired about me making for you? Well it so happens I have some time for it right now, still interested?". If in the affirmative he would then mention a price. Always a bit higher than the ballpark one. If there was agreement he would give an approximate date of completion and so ended the conversation. He didn't ask for deposits and he rarely got 'stiffed' on no shows. If he did,he put the item in a smal showroom adjacent to his shop for the many lookie-loo's that dropped by in the summer months. The price tag on the item in the showroom was a bit higher than the price quoted to the original customer. He did this after someone told him that a smart alek had deliberately not picked up an item because he knew it would wind up in the showroom and at that time Phil was putting a price just abit lower on it to get it out of the place. That person had a fill-in stop by, look at it and pay the lower price, with Phil non the wiser but a bit poorer.

Thanks Phil you helped me put bacon on the table that cold winter on the Jersey Shore!

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