GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — Some pass their retirement with a ship in a bottle. One retiree in Grand Haven, though, passes you with a ship on a bicycle.
“I'm always building and fixing something," said Dave Jacot.
Dave, known to tinker, found a late-in-life passion that stole his heart – hook, line and sinker.
“I guess I'm the local expert now," he laughed. “I like making things, and now I'm making things for myself, as we can see right here."
Sitting beside Dave is his bike hauling a homemade trailer—complete with cart wheels and a tire from a children's bike that he welded together—hoisting up a tugboat he built himself.
This is what happens when a Navy-man-turned-carpenter retires but isn’t done.
"Can't get away from it," he laughed. “But it's a lot more fun than working all the time."
He waited decades for the freedom of retirement. Yet, he's spent three days a week for the last 14 years of that retirement waiting for a different reason.
He waits now for the influx of kids that come as soon as the Victoria is plopped into the water.
“Anybody that wants to drive it, I'll let them drive it," Dave said. “I enjoy teaching them, telling them about it, and showing them how. And I don't think I've seen a kid walk away who didn't have a smile on their face. Except that ‘I don't want to quit' face."
“It's a way for me to keep busy and connect with people."
He was looking for some to talk to. He wasn’t expecting to become the talk of the town.
“It’s amazing!” one woman said, staring at his creation in awe.
“Wow! A tugboat! It’s beautifully made!” agreed her husband.
“We saw him bike over from our apartment and we rushed right over so we could watch him put it in," laughed another Grand Haven woman.
The bumpers are made from heat insulation tubing. The portholes, from washers. The fenders were made by the local crochet group.
“You use whatever is out there that looks good," said Dave.
The name? That's recycled, too.
“Victoria is my granddaughter," he smiled. “She says, 'I want my own boat. I want my own boat.' I finally broke down and bought her built her own boat.”
“Now I'm making plans to build another one for my grandson. So, yeah, it doesn't end."
Retirement is all about winding down. But it’s possible, instead, to find the wind in your sails — like Dave Jacot did with his tiny toy yacht.
“It's living, as far as I'm concerned," Dave's voice wavered, “and it gives me a reason to keep going.”