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Hobe Sound man builds boats from imagination

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Contributed by: Jeremy Ashton/YourHub.com on 1/16/2006

Last spring, carpenter Ron Matushek found the unfinished form of a model ship’s hull sitting on a scrap pile.

The person who threw out the hull must have envisioned only a useless hunk of wood. Matushek saw something more.

The 51-year-old Hobe Sound resident transformed the hull from trash to a model frigate. Matushek has since built three more ships and has just started another, using only scrap wood, everyday items and his imagination.

"It’s definitely a lost art form," Matushek said. "In a few years, everybody’s going to use a kit or a computer."

Matushek makes each ship more polished and sophisticated than the previous model. Rosemarie Kjerulf, his girlfriend, borrowed a book on model shipbuilding from the Blake Library during work on his second boat, a fishing schooner from the turn of the 20th century. The book gave him fresh ideas that are still influencing his creations.

Matushek spends approximately 150 hours spread over a couple months building each boat. Intricate work, such as tying small knots, can become tedious, but Matushek said he has "the patience of a saint."

For now, he has no plans to sell the ships or give them away. He’s not even sure how long he’ll keep building them. His house is filled with other creative endeavors, including paintings and handmade signs — evidence his imagination could take him in other directions.

"There’s a good possibility I’ll stop and think of something else to do," Matushek said.

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