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ast boat builder breezes launch of hand-built yacht
PATTON EHRBRIGHT
{ HERALD
>T. LOUIS — It was a boat but it took nearly two hours ut four miles of pavement to e water.
Broussard launched his boat, “Breeze,” about noon at Jourdan River Marina uling it through the streets of Louis from the site on Cen-:nue at Citizen Street where ;n building it for more than :ars.
passed through the streets, poured out of buildings to tie 48-foot-long, 16-foot-wide iss.
: time it reached the marina, ing of four or five cars had
o	15 or more.
of people said they felt like it irs, because they saw it grow id Broussard’s wife, Martha . “It’s a genuine adaptation of
the old Biloxi Schooner.”
Bay resident and boat aficionado Charles Gray said he’s watched “Breeze” take shape for 3'A years.
“Mike’s done it himself,” he said. “It’s a one-man-built boat.”
Broussard, a Biloxi native and Pass Christian resident, builds boats the old-fashioned way — of wood and by hand.
He describes “Breeze” as “the smaller, feminine version” of the noted White Winged Queens.
The Pass Christian-berthed “Corsair” also is his handiwork.
Made of pressure-treated, long-leaf yellow pine for planking and cypress for framing, “Breeze” is designed for low maintenance.
All angles are sloped to allow water to run off quickly.
The air-conditioned vessel has three staterooms, a bath and a half, a pilothouse and two galley stations.
Hancock County Road Superintendent Dewey Bobinger stopped by
NAN PATTON EHRBRIGHT/THE SUN HERALC
Boat enthusiasts watch as Mike Broussard’s boat, “Breeze,” is prepared for launching Monday in the Jourdan River. It took about 3’/ years for Broussard, a Biloxi native and Pass Christian resident, tc build the boat in Bay St. Louis and nearly two hours to haul it through town to its launching site.
Monday afternoon to admire it. “She’s a beauty,” Bobinger said.
“(Building) a boat like that takes untold hours of work.”
Within a few days, “Breeze” will
take its maiden voyage to its new home in the Pass Christian harbor.
Nan Patton Ehrbright can be reached at 467-6663 or 896-2438 or at maildroD@sunherald.infi.net