SEWANEE, Tenn. — Until 10 months ago, Timothy Keith-Lucas, a psychology professor at the University of the South, knew nothing about building boats.
Now, he finds himself beneath a shed in the middle of a field on top of Monteagle Mountain pointing to the steel hull of a 40-foot boat some students are calling an “ark.” He’s assembling the boat by hand.
“That’s the rumor,” he said.
Dr. Keith-Lucas said he plans to retire in a few years with his wife, Lisa. The pair will then embark on a nautical adventure that will take them down the Tennessee River and eventually into the Gulf of Mexico and waters beyond, he said.
“By then I’m going to be too old to handle a cruising sailboat,” he said. “I figured diesel would be a better idea.”