ERIC BLAKE was born into a long line of dairy farmers and wood cutters in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. He started building canoes in his father’s shop as soon as he was old enough to run the tablesaw. After graduating from high school he enrolled in the two-year small-boat design program at The Landing School in Kennebunk, Maine. Upon completing this program Eric headed overseas and spent a year at the International Boatbuilding School in England studying for their City and Guilds exam in traditional yacht construction. Boats and the many people in the marine industry he has met have led Eric to jobs at numerous boatyards, many of them pioneers in wood composite construction. He and his wife Molly came to Brooklin in 2004 to take a job at Brooklin Boat Yard. He valiantly tries to spend as much of his free time out on the water. When he’s not sailing, he can usually be found chasing their son, Cy, around the garden at their home in Blue Hill.