The war had long since passed, Sewell was now in his early 40's and doing well in his position as foreman at the Charlestown ship yard. But not all of his old shipmates fare so well. In the mid 1820's the US was expanding, enterprise was the word of the day and there was little need for warriors at sea. With no work and unreliable pensions some of them took to less reputable forms of income including bootlegging, privateering and even piracy. The lines of right and wrong were beginning to blur.
Sewell was being commissioned by authorities to build faster ships in order to catch these "rumrunners". Every so often he would be approached by officials to "slicken" a ship. He'd shave a bit here, trim a bit there and make their ships faster. But the authorities still couldn't catch the bootleggers. They would race down the east coast to the Caribbean and back, always one step behind. They'd pull into the yard at Charlestown, frustrated, pleading with Sewell to make their ships even faster. Sewell in a calm, low tone would offer suggestions, make alterations and the ships would go faster.
But that's not why he was the greatest ship builder in the world.
Even with slicker ships the authorities still couldn't catch the bandits. What no one ever knew was that while Sewell Chamberlain was making government ships fast, he was making the rumrunner's ships just a little bit faster.
And that's why he was the greatest ship builder in the world.
THE END
