Summary

After the victory in New York, Joe returned home to Sequim to continue working on his house and picking up whatever odd jobs he could find to save enough money for the next school year. Joe went back to working with Charlie in the woods. Earlier that year, lumber companies had come through Charlie’s woods and purchased chopping rights to his cedar trees. They had taken only the prime middle sections of the trees, leaving large top sections and tall stumps behind. Charlie taught Joe how to read the remnant wood, searching out beautiful pieces of discarded wood to be used for roofing shakes.

When Joe returned to the boathouse in November, there was a visible swagger in the new sophomore team. Not only were they national champions, they were also no longer the “new boys” in the crew house. The...