William Garden (Canadian/American 1918-2011)

The Nod
a cradle in the form of a boat designed and built by William Garden (Canadian 1918 – 2011) , size 36" LOA, 30" LWL, 23" beam, 2" draft, complete with oar, custom sail and cradle stand.

Built for his grandchildren, the Nod was launched by William Garden in 1994 for it's trial run just off Toad's Landing in Sidney, BC with a teddy bear at the helm. She went on to spend the next 30 years on land indoors. More information about this little boat can be found in Wililam Garden's 1998 book where it is profiled under Row Boats, pages 8-12.
Size: 48 h x 50 w x 25 d in
M21153                                                                      

uno@langmann.com
604 736 8825 or 1 800 730 8825

William Garden was born in Calgary, Alberta in 1918. He moved to Oregon with his family in 1924, then relocated to the Montlake district of Seattle by 1928. After graduation in 1935 enrolled at the Edison Boatbuilding School where he learned new construction for both sail and power, then went to work for Andrew's Boat Companyh on Portage Bay. He constructed his schooner GLEAM which he sailed throughout the San Juan Islands, around Vancouver Island, and along the coast of British Columbia when time permitted. In 1940 he formed a partnership with Dave Leclercq at an old mill site on Portage Bay and built five sailing yachts before closing in 1942 to work for the war effort. At the age of 24, with 51 boats designed (mainly work boats, tugs, trollers, and sardine boats), William Garden was drafted into the US Army and sent to the Adak Ship Repair Base in the Aleutians. Discharged in the spring of 1946 as a Master Sergeant, he returned to Seattle where he designed halibut boats, trollers and the 30-foot cutter BULL FROG, and cruised the Pacific Northwest.

In the fall of 1947 Garden was licensed as a Naval Architect and the following year took on additional design work on fishing boats and yachts, and replaced GLEAM with RAIN BIRD. In 1951 he moved to the Pacific Fishing & Trading Co. in Ballard, then in 1954 to Maritime Shipyards, producing several yachts, work boats and pile drivers, etc. He worked on several projects through the mid 1950's, and a 1957 article in marine Digeste detailed 62 boats in construction and another 12 on the boards.

Victoria was chosen as an interim move in 1968 to raise a family, after which a nearby island was purchased for design offices. Shops and a self-sufficient island home were established in 1969 at Toad's Landing near Sidney, BC where he operated until he passed away in 2011.  In 2006, Garden was awarded the Order of Canada for his contribution to Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. Always with a passion for creating his designs in wood, the later years of Garden's life were busy with bringing many of his designs and dreams alive in wooden half models. Watch an informative video about his life at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fStcCZ6L8g0.