Walter Hale

Walter James Hale was born in the spring of 1941 in a house two streets from the harbour, and he never lived further from the water than that. He apprenticed at the Cross Street boatyard at sixteen and stayed for forty-three years, the last twenty as its foreman. Boats he built are still working the bay.

He married Margaret in 1963. They raised three children within sight of the water, and he taught every one of them, and later every grandchild, to row before they could ride a bicycle. He fished at dawn most mornings of his life, and was known to describe a poor catch as a good morning anyway.

He is survived by Margaret, his wife of sixty-three years, his children David, Anne and Peter, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He was steady, kind and unhurried, and he would want you to go out on the water this week.