Charlie Ard’s custom
watercraft are works of art
Story and photos by Graham Hadley
Additional photos courtesy of Charles Ard
Most people looking for a new boat to take out on the Coosa buy one from dealers along the lakes.
Pell City’s Charlie Ard, on the other hand, simply builds one from scratch – sometimes in as little as four days.
Moored to the dock at his girlfriend’s house is one such shining example: A 24-foot, center-console mahogany boat that is truly a work of art named the Corabell. And not only is she a thing of beauty, but the all-wood boat is fast, too, powered by a big inboard V8 engine.
“I built her from the ground up in 2009, starting with just a pile of lumber,” he said.
“I built my first boat when I was 12. It was based on a boat in the Pogo comic strips. I had always admired that little boat. Now this was my 10th boat built since then.”
Charlie’s father was an engineer, and he grew up around his father’s shop, so taking on the complicated process of building wood boats was almost second nature to him. Originally, Charlie’s wood shop was in Birmingham, but the retired HVAC technician moved the entire operation to his shop attached to his house in Cropwell years ago. Like his boats, Charlie designed and built both his house and shop – and much of the furnishings, tables and storage cabinets there as well.
The Corabell’s distinctive mahogany build gives the boat that classic antique look, but Charlie chose that wood for more than its looks.
“Mahogany is durable, as durable as fiberglass,” he said. “And it does not take much maintenance. The urethane I use is good. The Corabell has had one coat in the past 12 years. … The mahogany is actually lighter than fiberglass and does not soak up water like other woods.”
He is quick to point out the mahogany he uses is plantation grown, so his boats don’t contribute to over logging or damage the environment.
Charlie credits not only his father, who was also an amateur woodcarver, with inspiring him, but also a host of other people in his life. “I learned a lot from the woodcarvers guild. I am actually the past president of the Alabama Woodworkers Guild.”
Add to that training natural inborn talent for his craft (lots of natural talent), and the end result is a boat builder who can create remarkable and unique watercraft and do it in a surprisingly short period of time.
Boat hulls are complicated creations – because all of the curves and structural strength needed to make a seaworthy vessel, the individual strips of wood are almost abstract creations. The flat piece of wood bears little resemblance to the way it looks on the completed boat.
Charlie says he uses standard measurements for his hull designs, but there is still a large portion of the design that is all his.
Working from a large drafting table outfitted with a rare left-handed drafting machine, Charlie (who claims lefties are more creative) draws out full-size blueprints for his boats. He then takes those designs to his workshop, where he lays them out on a table and builds the boat over them, projecting right from his original drawings.
Despite the complexity and the attention to detail – there are more than 4,000 screws holding the hull of the Corabell together – Charlie builds his works of art in record time.
“The Corabell only took a few months to build,” he said. His shortest time for a build is four days – a beautiful rowboat he put together between Christmas and New Years shortly after his father passed away in 2008.
That rowboat sits in his boat shed on his Cropwell property, complete with the oars he made especially for it.
“I built this in honor of my Daddy. Dad rowed recreationally. I think he did that to irritate me. I like big V8s, but he said, ‘I don’t need a motor, I will just row.’”
Like most of his builds, the rowboat is mahogany, and Charlie said it is the perfect boat for some of the lakes in the national forest where motors are not allowed.
Charlie also honored his father with some of the design elements on the Corabell.
“My father made dulcimers – like the Appalachian musical instrument, so I made a finial based on that design on the bow,” he said.
Though the Corabell is not his biggest build – there is a 30-foot twin screw that he put together but no longer owns that is used as a fishing boat in the Gulf Stream out of Bimini – she is one of his favorites.
“She has turned out to be a good boat, no vices, an all-around successful project,” he said.
From bow to stern, the Corabell is full of custom designs, and Charlie’s attention to detail is evident in every piece of work. The top is even made out of canvas stretched over laminated wood bracings.
One of the most impressive features is the center console, which folds forward to expose the engine. The boat has a modified V-shaped hull, with a “good bit of keel,” and between the hull design and the engine, the Corabell will flat-out go.
“This boat will do 40 mph. I have never skied behind it – my only motorboat I have not done that on,” he said. Even though the boat is all wood, it only weighs about as much as a Ski Natique.
Despite its speed, Charlie prefers to cruise around Logan Martin Lake at a more leisurely pace.
“I like to get up, get my morning coffee, and cruise around the lake at about 10 mph,” he said.
The Corabell is moored to a dock at Charlie’s girlfriend’s house. He built the dock with her blessing – and a covered area for her boat, so he would have a place to tie up on Logan Martin.
Parked up on a trailer on the same property is another Charlie Ard creation – the flat-bottomed boat, Cooney Bonet.
His boat names all have special personal meaning – the Corabell is named after a favorite teacher who made a huge difference in her students’ lives, “mine included” – and the Cooney Bonet is no exception.
“He waded ashore at Omaha Beach in World War II. He was a great American,” Charlie said.
The 16-foot, again mahogany, flat-bottom boat was built for getting around all parts of the lake.
“It will float in 3 inches of water, and with the motor up, you can pole it along. It was not intended for speed, just kvetching about, to have fun in,” he said. While speed was not the original intent, “I designed it for a 10-horsepower motor. Then I got this 18-horsepower motor. This thing will fly.”
Charlie’s love of the water is apparent. The walls of his shop are lined with charts of coastal regions, lakes and rivers, fishing gear and other memorabilia. Equally apparent is his love of woodworking. If you look among the decorations, you can find an award he received for one of his work benches and cabinets he designed and built.
Like so many of Charlie Ard’s creations, it is both functional and a work of art. It sits among his other hand-made cabinets and benches in his shop awaiting his next project.
