Graham has been designing boats since he was a kid. “I’d draw pictures of sailboats, and then with my plastic bricks sets, I would build boats,” he says. Growing up close to a historic boat shop, he was desperate to build a boat of his own. 

In high school, he finally got that chance – he signed up for the apprentice program at Lowell’s Boat Shop, now a National Historic Landmark and a museum of boatbuilding. Then he spent years sailing tall ships and crewing on commercial fishing boats. But his craft kept calling him back.

Today, he mentors kids at the same shop where he built his first boat. When it comes to teaching his handiwork, Graham believes in a hands-off approach. “A kid learns more without you hovering,” he says. “Give kids a long leash with which to learn, and often, they’ll amaze you.”

What does he teach? A lapped construction method that uses lots of hand tools and very few power tools. “It’s a forgiving building style,” he says. “When you lap planks together, you add strength without adding a lot of weight.”

Graham’s mission is to build boats that will last for years to come – and to make sure that by inspiring today’s youth, the craft of wooden boatbuilding lasts, too.