WORKING

Story by Andrew Glazer; photo by Sean Hiller

HE IS ...

An enemy to barnacles.

FROM COWS TO BOATS

Abe Parra, 38, began his long career as a ship repairman at Larson’s

Shipyard in 1980. He had recently arrived from Mexico, leaving behind 18

brothers and sisters, to see how life was in the United States.

“You heard all these stories,” he said, as he scraped the rotted, wooden

hull of a 30-foot, 1940s-era yacht. He was preparing the ship for a race.

“I had to see for myself.”

While Parra grew up on a ranch two hours away from seaside Acapulco in a

200-person village called Santa Barbara, he says he never spent much time

near the ocean.

Now, he is rarely more than 20 yards away from it.

“I didn’t want to work on a ranch my whole life,” he said.

SWABBING DECKS

After meeting Al Larson, owner of the shipyard and perennialdock denizen

who passed away two weeks ago, Parra knew he would be happy spending much

of his life crawling under ships.

Larson put Parra, then 17 years old, to work swabbing decks and sweeping

the floors of the shipyard. But Larson also began sharing his extensive

knowledge of boats -- he helped prepare World War II ships in Long Beach

-- with his young protege.

The two became close friends. Larson helped teach Parra English.

A TRUE TRADESMAN

When Larson retired a few years ago, Parra took what he learned even

further. The shipyard, built in 1947, had never been equipped to hoist

large vessels from the water.

Parra invented and designed a steel cradle for the boats. He and his crew

are now able to lift large boats out of the water, sit them on the cradle

and repair and repaint the hulls.

“He knows almost everything, especially wooden boats,” said Nancy Dixon,

president of the shipyard. “And it’s almost a lost trade. Very few people

are interested in labor jobs anymore, with the popularity of computers.”

HEAVEN AND HULLS

Parra has found a little piece of heaven under the hulls of yachts.

“I don’t like to be at home,” he said. “But I love it out here.”

After work, Parra and his four-man crew -- who affectionately call him

“El Jefe,” Spanish for “the chief” -- sit by the boats and drink beer

together.

“We laugh and joke around and talk about work,” he said.

On some Saturdays, Parra brings one of his four children -- 8-year-old

Dennis -- to the shipyard to pass on his knowledge.

“He really wants to learn,” Parra said.