MUSEUM GALLERY

The Intricate Work of Constructing Model Ships

Ewald Dwersteg

Duncan doctor Ewald Dwersteg now retired, trading medical patients for artistic patience needed to build intricate scale models of wooden ships. The former ear, nose and throat specialist now uses his honed operating room skills to tie knots in the rigging of precisely constructed crafts that can take a year or more to make.

“I worked with fine instruments in surgery and this hobby requires a similar coordination and spatial orientation with your hands,” the Hanover native said. But, despite an encyclopedic knowledge of shipbuilding and naval history, Dwersteg is a landlubber.

“He who goes to sea, goes to Hell for a pastime,” he joked. “I have arthritis so sailing would not be pleasurable-- it would be dangerous and uncomfortable.”

The Duncan retiree has read volumes about the history of seamanship while researching how to build the two dozen models he’s completed  in his home workshop. Seventeen of his masterpieces are anchored in the Cowichan Bay Maritime Centre’s seaside exhibit room.

“Being at sea wasn’t fun,” concluded Dwersteg, 72. “If you know how sailors lived on shipboard and what they carried from where to where, you get to know lots of history. The information is limitless. You can learn all about shipping problems and how they were overcome.”

But few books tell him how to reconstruct his models-- most are 1/96 the scale of the original ship-- in exact detail. Instead, Dwersteg studies pictures, drawings, archaeological articles, and plans of the craft he intends to build. “I try to construct them as genuinely as I can. Many shipbuilders had no plans, just carpenters they could rely on. A ship was a living thing that was often refitted later,” he explained.

Harvey George - elder native carver

The fleet of small scale fish boats were donated to the maritime centre by elder native carver Harvey George of Duncan BC Harvey is a member of the Sooke based T’Souke band and spent most of his life commercial fishing as well as logging. Each fish boat has been carved from a single block of wood. Fishing gear, tiny tires to protect the hull from rubbing on the docks and even miniature tables and chairs have been added to

complete the look. On average each boat took one to two years to complete. No plans were used or measuring tools, everything was done from memory and eye.