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<\/a>\u201cIt is the most traditional boat made in San Diego for probably over 100 years. It\u2019s pretty much the way they did it back then, maybe thousands of years before Cabrillo sailed here and landed on Point Loma,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s certain that the people came out to explorer\u2019s ship in boats that looked like this one. The native people didn\u2019t have much, but they knew how to work and live with what they did have.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019d make the boats and use them to fish and transport things for several months, until they finally became waterlogged and fell apart, but boatbuilding would have been a never-ending process, continually replacing the damaged or oversoaked ones with new boats. There was always plenty of raw material.\u201d<\/p>\n
That Shockey is able to recreate all the ancient processes is no real surprise, because all the elements the native people used are still not only available, but abundant here today. Between Mission Trails Park and the San Diego River, there is essentially a never-ending supply of the tule reeds, the yucca plants, the willow trees and everything else that went into making the boats, the weapons and the tools Shockey has recreated.<\/p>\n \u201cI have the largest collection of pre-historic tools and weapons of San Diego in existence,\u201d he said. \u201cI make everything to archeological specifications and take them to the same places they were used.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s become something of a lifelong quest for the 53-year-old Shockey, who keeps the lights on and the roof over his head as a professional hairdresser. It\u2019s way beyond a hobby, but it\u2019s one he pursues and will continue to pursue as long as he can.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never been paid for anything before, but I will be now. This boat will be in a movie the Cabrillo National Monument folks are making about the Cabrillo landing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a>