Michael Pierce’s raw bar boat creations.

In fact, it was in the process of rebuilding the home of 21 Federal Street, now known as Ventuno, that Pierce met his best friend, the late Stephen “Spanky” Kania, the man who, according to local legend, was the first to cater a raw bar on Nantucket. It all started in the 1980s when Kania was hired by a woman named Lizzie Sanford to shuck littlenecks for a group of women playing bridge in her home. The idea quickly took off, and with Pierce’s help, they soon left building homes behind, enjoying season after busy season of not only providing and shucking at raw bars at events, but digging for the shellfish as well. This business became so popular that Pierce says they needed to dig for clams every single day, all year long, to have enough to serve at their parties. But he and Kania quickly realized that the iced tables they were using weren’t the best vehicles to display the mollusks—they were destroying the tables in the process. Kania and Pierce turned to Warren Pease, who was the first to build a wooden raw bar boat on Nantucket (and still continues today).

Although this pardoned the fate of countless wooden tables, the design was just a few inches too long to fit in the back of a truck’s bed, causing Pierce to take matters into his own hands (literally) when he constructed his first raw bar boat, a shorter creation that could be transported from party to party with ease. The first raw bar boat he created is still used at The Wauwinet. Pierce’s process is one of patience and craftsmanship. He first created a mold for the three different sizes of boats—56, 76 and 96 inches. The smallest can accommodate a single shucker, while the medium and large can accommodate two or three. Each boat is built with a mahogany stem and stern, and cedar is clamped and slowly bent for the smooth curve of the planking. “When it snaps, it’s not bashful,” Pierce says. “And while it’s being built, with all the clamps, it kinda looks like a porcupine.” An insert tray made of plywood allows for the use of less ice, and a brass plug gives a controlled release of ice melt so that the seafood is never “swimming” in water. Each boat, from beginning to end, takes just under a month to be fully constructed, the longest part due to waiting for varnish and glue to dry. But Pierce doesn’t seem to be in any rush, nor does he have plans for hiring an apprentice. In fact, this 78-year-old has relied solely on word of mouth to sell his work, up until about two years ago when he launched his single-page website, and now he “receives calls from every which way but loose,” the master woodworker happily reports.

In the summer, in his time away from his woodshop, Pierce can still be found as a raw bar shucker at parties, although the digging for littlenecks is now, thankfully, someone else’s responsibility. The classic wooden raw bar boat, typically the length of a four-top table, has become something of an island staple at weddings, parties, galas and other celebrations. The boats serve not only as a display for the ocean’s bounty, but as a focal point and gathering place, a common

ground for all to convene and enjoy. Meeting the customers who purchase his boats is what Pierce says is his favorite part of the job after long solo winters in the woodshop behind his home. For now, the calls continue to come in from both existing customers and new, all wanting their own take on his one of-a-kind creations. But he insists that despite all the hard work, he’s still having a good time.

“I was thinking just recently, am I still having fun?” he says. “It’s good woodwork, and yes, it’s still fun.”