Creating handmade wooden boats is the passion of Agustín Jordán from Lanzarote. The 56-year-old man has dedicated his whole life to maintaining the profession of coastal carpentry, the trade involved in the artisanal construction of wooden boats, which is still latent in Lanzarote society.
The boat expert has revealed to La Voz his first memories linked to his profession. "I began to feel attracted to boats as a child, when I spent summers in Punta Mujeres." It was at that moment, while spending every day near the boats, when he discovered his passion, which led him to specialize in his youth, at the age of 16, in a workshop in Puerto Naos, where they began to teach him how to draw with plans.
This 2024, he continues to teach classes to people interested in building their own boat. A teaching in which he tries to get his students to learn to draw, trace plans, make boats, launches, barquillos, among other activities. A subject with which he tries to ensure that the profession is not lost and to be able to maintain it in future generations. Something that he believes he is achieving. "Over the years the trade is being forgotten, but there are many people who still want to continue learning," he commented. The desire to continue with what he learned during his childhood and to be able to teach it to the citizens is what his day-to-day is based on. "We are adapting to not disappear and transmit to people so that they can receive that patrimonial value," he stressed.
"We are adapting to not disappear and transmit to people so that they can take that patrimonial value"
Inside the classes they make all kinds of boats from barquillos, launches, boats, "everything that fits them", said Agustín. "Many of the students come to the classes to learn how to design their own boat," he stressed. Boats for which a material such as commercial wood is used, which has been advancing over the years on the island, since before the leftovers from other boats, pine or oak wood and some from the surroundings were used.
Jordán not only dedicates himself to teaching, he also traces, draws and designs boat plans in his workshop in Arrecife. "I have designed and built 36 boats, the largest is 16 meters"; he revealed. In addition, his dedication to the world of boats does not end here, he also repairs boats that need remodeling. "Sometimes I go to the specific place where the boat is to work," he said. Once I finish the work, "I go back home," he stressed, although most of the orders are "made in the workshop I have in Arrecife," said the craftsman.
Continuing in the trade has not been a task maintained over time on the island, where the desire for dedication that existed in the past has been lost. "Those of us who have stayed are those who love the trade," the carpenter stressed about belonging to the profession. "The profession has given me a lot of patience and has given me many things," he revealed with the love he has for his work. He does not stop believing in the capacity of his work to continue to be maintained in society. "Coastal carpentry still has a lot to offer," he stressed.
"Those of us who have stayed are those who love the trade," revealed Agustín Jordán
His philosophy is based on continuing to do things in the profession and innovating in the world as a carpenter. He has published and written two books, one of them called 'The Secret of Traditional Tracing', in which he explains the technique of the strokes and shows one of the drawings of the models he has completed. In the second publication he offers the keys to build a boat. This 2024, he has launched himself to write a biography about the change in the profession and its transformation, also with his anecdotes and photographs of his creations.
