New York to Florida in a Homemade Wooden Boat

Jeff was a dear friend who I could go on and on about.

He selflessly created this blog for me when I shared my far-fetched goal to conquer the Atlantic Intra Coastal Waterway in one of the boats he had designed in remembrance of my recently passed grandfather. Countless in the wooden boat-building community have shared how Jeff has helped them in some unique and special way. Every time a builder completed the grueling process of building a boat from scratch, Jeff shared in the builder’s pride. All his designs, once built, received an showing on his website including a backstory about the builder. I’ll never forget when I reached out to Jeff and shared pictures of my completed boat. I could have never predicted such a genuine, heartwarming, and humble response back.

Jeff and I had never met and we were decades apart in age. We, however, held a friendship that I’ll cherish for the rest of my life. Every few months, we’d check in with each other and give updates about our lives. Anything cool thing we’d done in the past months, aspirations we held, advice Jeff had for me, etc. We shared a bond through the solace of boat building. Which, without Jeff’s help, would not have been possible for me. No question was too dumb for Jeff and he enabled countless clueless builders to conquer their roadblocks of how to proceed.

His designs and support structure made it possible for so many first-time boat builders to tackle the intimidating challenge of building a boat. He helped the wooden boat community in so many ways, but moreover, Jeff was a great person who carried himself in a way most can only admire. Jeff became everyone’s friend through the shared passion for boat building and he will be deeply missed. I talked through a plethora of future adventures with Jeff and I’ll make sure those plans live on in my Jeff Spira-designed 18′ Carolina Dory.

Fair Winds and Following Seas Jeff.