Ways of Life

00000177-ba84-d5f4-a5ff-bbfc9baa0000Ways of Life airs every second Monday at 8:40am and 5:45pm.Our series Ways of Life is A collection of stories about people who live down the street... our neighbors: Fishermen, scientists, craftspeople, recovering addicts, surgeons, dog rescuers, motorcycle gang members, nursing home residents, musicians, the homeless, kid athletes, social activists, and all the others who share this place.Each portrait becomes part of the surprising, interwoven tapestry of our lives together here on the Cape, Coast and Islands. Ways of Life is edited by Jay Allison and produced by our production partners at Atlantic Public Media Ways of Life is made possible by The Circle of Ten, ten local businesses and organizations committed to local programming on WCAI.

Giving up your solid day job in science... for the challenges of wooden boatbuilding

By Sarah Schewe

Published April 8, 2019 at 7:45 AM EDT

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Photo by Sarah Schewe

Athena Aicher is a boat builder on Martha’s Vineyard, but she wasn’t always. Seven years ago, Athena moved to Woods Hole to work in a lab at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Athena gave up life in the lab to work in a boat yard. Today, she hears sea birds while she works and can smell the salt air. Her dog, Clio, runs on the beach. The work is hard – bending straight planks of wood into a new, curved life is not easy -but that’s part of the appeal.

A boat inside the Gannon and Benjamin Marine Railway

Credit Photo by Sarah Schewe

This piece came to us from our production partners at Atlantic Public Media through their media training program, The Transom Story Workshop in Woods Hole. Sarah is a graduate of the workshop and you can find out more about that program at Transom.org

Ways of Life is edited by Jay Allison and made possible by the Circle of Ten - ten local businesses and organizations committed to local programming on WCAI.