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Greetings from the hammock!

After much discussion, we will continue calling the place the Gwynn’s Island Boat Yard.  The acronym (GIBY) is a little goofy but we do not anticipate it being used generally.  And more especially, this is how Gilbert Klingel named it.

It is our desire to encourage the idea of Gwynn’s Island Boat Yard as an entity in and of itself, hosting various sub-entities now and over time.  The time before and the time to come.  It is dawning on us that we have the opportunity here to build something that will survive us.  Gil Klingel certainly thought that way as evinced by his bedding the railway in concrete.  A short-sighted man would have used wood and the railway would not likely be currently viable as a result.

We said recently, “We have received a heritage, We are leaving a legacy.”

The concept of Gwynn’s Island Boat Yard AS host is entirely consistent not only with its history but with the vision that is developing among us here.  Gwynn’s Island Boat Yard has hosted Gilbert Klingel, Wayne Pulley, Ed Davis, Gary Gray, Scott Gray, Mathews Maritime Foundation, Rappahannock Community College (RCC), Rionholdt Boats, and now Bay Built Boats.  This idea also enables the possibility of other entities sharing the space with us as we move forward.

By partnering with this reality, we can make this place into something grand, something worthy of passing on to those who will come after.  It has been said, “The dearer your work to you, the longer it will stand.”

The work being done here is very ‘dear’ and not only to us, therefore let us conduct ourselves in such a way that helps it stand for a long time, believing someone will come after us and build upon what we leave them.

Let us not view this place as a ‘bus stop’ for ourselves only, but think of those who have made it what we enjoy today and those who will enjoy what we make it into tomorrow.

The ‘hosting’ theme is even more apt when we consider that a foundational concept of what we are doing here is hospitality.  And by that we do not only mean hospitality toward people, but hospitality for the culture of the working waterfront, especially The Culture of the Chesapeake Bay Working Waterman, manifesting those root values with an eye toward exposing and inculcating others to and with the fundamental efficacy of those values.

Further, and perhaps more importantly, it is our desire “to host, to provide hospitality for, make a home for, make room for,” that spirit within our hearts that moves us to do this work.

– Rionholdt Once And Future Boats Ltd.