Maire’s Boat Building by Woodworker, George Wurtzel

This past weekend was very special and exciting in Minneapolis, MN.

For those of you who have been following the story of Maire Kent, the twenty-four year old amazing young lady who lost her battle to cardiac sarcoma, Maire’s final wish was to have her ashes placed in a wooden sailboat that would be set sail in northern Michigan in the waters of the Great Lakes. The sailboat would continue its journey until it reaches the ocean, at which time Maire’s brothers and sister would meet her there and release her ashes into the ocean.

The first stage of this truly amazing story is the building of the floating sailing vessel. 

This past weekend, George Wurtzel, a blind carpenter from Minneapolis, MN, completed the building of Maire’s 3 ft. custom-built sailing ship with the help of his good friend, Mickey.

On Saturday, George walked over to his local ACE Hardware store to purchase the miscellaneous items, including the paint.  George’s assistant store manager, Ian Sorle, helped him with his list of supplies.

Once George and Mickey completed the building of the boat, they applied fiberglass to protect the boat and partially painted it Rosebud Pink.

The next morning as the day’s temperature barely reached thirty-five degrees with the wind blowing, George and Mickey drove to a local lake where they placed the sailboat in the water.  It was an exciting moment for all of us.

To understand how the boat would float with Maire’s ashes, George placed two bags of sugar to simulate five to seven pounds of weight.