Just as Skaneateles celebrates is 100 years of sailing, one native appreciates being around boats his entire life.

Shipwright Jeffrey Reid became inspired by friends creating kayaks in their basement and began to think about making vessels out of wood. He also became close with staffers at Mid-Lakes Navigation and frequently saw the classic wooden vessel the company uses for the dinner cruise.

In 1992, Reid graduated from State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse with a degree in wood products engineering.

It's no surprise, then, that for the past decade Reid has worked as a builder and restorer of old boats in Sausalito, Calif., where he moved in 1998. He works independently out of his woodshop repairing and building wooden crafts in the bay area town.

“I remember being fascinated by some friends building some small craft,” Reid said in a telephone interview from the Skaneateles home of his parents, Bruce and Lorraine, whom he came to visit this month.

Reid said he also has fond memories of knowing a man who worked at Mid-Lakes Navigation.

“He was doing some steelwork on some boats, and I remember that really sparked my interest,” he recalled.

After finishing school in Syracuse, the 1986 Skaneateles High School graduate spent time exploring what he wanted to do with his carpentry skills.

He spent a year working in a cabinet shop in Brooklyn before moving on to work for four years as an assistant superintendent for a bridge building company in Oriskany.

In the end, he stuck with boats, something he's so passionate about he lives on one. He lives on a 1946 Island Clipper, which he also is restoring.

After finishing school, Reid moved to Sausalito, where he did a one-year apprenticeship at the Arques School of Traditional Wooden Boatbuilding where he learned the basics of boat design, timber harvesting and tool use. He graduated in 2000.

By definition, a shipwright is a carpenter who is skilled in ship construction and repair. Since most modern vessels are made of steel, those with the ability to work on wooden boats are in high demand.

“After my apprenticeship I worked for seven years on a railway, which is where they haul boats out, at Richardson Bay Boatworks in Sausalito,” he said.

Reid said he then began working on his own, and soon had requests for his services from numerous boat owners.

Among Reid's favorite projects, he explained, was the restoration of a gaff-rigged boat originally designed by renowned boatbuilder Ralph Winslow.

“As a personal project, I also restored a 1939 Danish boat that turned out pretty good,” he said.

Though Reid said he has never been directly involved with the annual Antique and Classic Boat Show, he has attended it.

“I've enjoyed the show every time I've been,” he said. “They always have some great and beautiful designs.”