Boatbuilder branches out into Arctic housing

Covey Island Boatworks of Petite Riviere, Nova Scotia, is noted for building some very innovative boats. Recently, their launch of Czarina, a 27-foot solar electric ketch earned high praise for its alternative power system.

Now the Nova Scotia yard has again ventured into uncharted waters, this time in building a prototype for Arctic housing.
According to Covey Island spokesman Eric Hustvedt, a customer approached Covey Island Boatworks from Nunavut, Canada’s largest and newest territory, to design prefabricated housing suitable for use in the Arctic. The design for the structure is essentially an upside-down boat, inspired by the traditional Inuit practice of turning a summer hunting boat upside down for winter shelter. The new owner will test the prototype by living in it this winter in Rankin Inlet on western Hudson Bay. The structure is made of wood and can be disassembled in eight sections for transport. The unit includes off-the-grid electrical features, which many boatbuilders incorporate in construction as a matter of course.