When young Braiden Norton nods off each night, it will be in the cozy captain's berth of his own small ship. Fish will swim at his head, waves will lap at the wall and seagulls will soar overhead.
These sweet dreams are just now taking shape in the woodworking shop at Hinckley Yachts in Portsmouth. The whole 16-member crew is pitching in, as are carpenters at Hinckley's Maine shop, all lending their considerable cabinetry skills to a project aimed at brightening the days and nights of a youngster who has spent a tough winter.
Braiden, 2 1/2 has been diagnosed with pylocitic astrocytoma, a form of cancer lodged in his brain stem. The problem was first thought to involve his eyes but that led to discovery that fluid was pressing on his optic nerve. Surgeons eased the pressure but one day his parents discovered that his bicycle helmet, which had fit fine a short time earlier, was suddenly much too small. The swelling was back only worse.
He endured 14 hours of surgery recently at Boston's Dana Farber Cancer and is now headed to Houston, Texas, with his parents Philip and Tatia Norton for treatment by a leading specialist in this form of tumor.
"Braiden continues to be the biggest trooper through all of this," his parents wrote on a website devoted to Braiden. "He is very active, happy and as healthy as one can possibly be while having a brain tumor."
Braiden's dad works at Hinckley in the electronics department and several weeks ago asked if some of the carpenters could lend him a hand. Since Braiden would be bedroom-bound for awhile, the Nortons wanted to knock out a wall in their New Bedford house to enlarge their only child's small room into something of a bedroom/playroom.
His co-workers figured they could do better than that, said woodworking shop foreman Roy Lopes. The Hinckley crew spend their days building custom interiors for some of the world's finest yachts — often multi-million projects for vessels ranging up to 160 feet.
"These are some creative people here (who are) used to making things fit into difficult spaces," Mr. Lopes said. Let loose on this job for a friend, imaginations ran wild. "They wanted to help. (Mr. Norton) has been through an awful lot juggling his work and family."
This being Hinckley, the theme would have to be nautical. Braiden likes boats a lot, having visited his dad's workplace and gone aboard some of the boats there.
Assistant foreman Jon Hollis began putting ideas onto paper.
Braiden's bed would be a boat, something with a seaworthy, swashbuckling look, built for adventure. It would be a bunk bed with a ladder to the top deck, a poop deck from which he can navigate and fend off pirates. There will be gun ports, a slide, swings, lights, hidden compartments and other fun things that the woodworkers continue to dream up. He will peek through an antique porthole off a boat once owned by Humphrey Bogart
"It's going to have all the bells and whistles up there on that upper deck," Mr. Lopes said. "There will be a steering station with wheel, buttons and controls, the works." Nearly complete is a window seat toy box built by Hinckley carpenter Ben Wilcox that looks like Captain Kidd's treasure chest
Although it's being built in the carpentry shop, other departments heard about the unusual job and wanted to do what they could.
"People from all over are coming in with ideas and to help. Every department is getting into it — electronics, mechanics, paint. It's a great team effort."
While working on cabinets for the recent Extreme Makeover house project in Warwick, Mr. Hollis asked some of the crew from Hinckley's Maine shop if they'd be willing to help and they agreed.
Their assignment — convert Mr. Hollis' drawing of a fanciful desk into the real thing. It will be shipped down from Maine in a couple of weeks along with a pirate quilt sewn especially for Braiden by a Maine woman.
"None of those people up in Maine has ever met Braiden but they didn't hesitate to help," Mr. Hollis said. "That's the way this has gone.
The workers are doing it all on their own time, mostly weekends and evenings. "We're still keeping up with our regular work during the day," Mr. Lopes said.
Still, they have Hinckley's blessings and help. The company provided them with a budget with which to obtain supplies and has pitched in with donations. Other area companies have heard of the effort and offered paint, help with the aquarium and its fish — even a flat panel TV for the wall.
Although there is mahogany trim here and there, most of the wood is plywood since the boat and room will be painted. Carpenters are building wainscoting for the new room's walls, the top cut to the shape of waves. Swimming in the azure painted water will be cutout fish, with plywood seabirds flying above. A wooden channel buoy or two will float on the surface, a dolphin will be caught in mid-dive, and puffy clouds will be painted into the sky. Heavy curved molding that seems straight out of a man o'war's belowdecks is being attached to the bedroom's corners.
"We're pretty much working straight from (Jon Hollis's) drawings by eye since there are no measurements to go with," Mr. Lopes said, adding that the results so far are impressive.
Braiden hasn't a clue what is in store. The plan is to have it all done and in place to greet him when he returns from Houston in a few weeks.
"Since his resistance will be low and he will probably be spending a lot of time in his room, we hope we can make this a happy place for him," Mr. Hollis said.
And while they have thoroughly enjoyed tackling this project for a friend, Mr. Lopes and Mr. Hollis said their foremost goal is drumming up all the help they can for Braiden and family.
"He's a great kid, this is a wonderful family and they really can use a hand right now," Mr. Hollis said.
To learn more ...
For updates on Braiden Norton, and a photo album by photographer Michelle Carr, visit the family's website at www.braidennorton.com
* The site also includes information for those who would like to pitch in to help the family with the considerable expenses — several fund raising events are planned in the coming weeks.
* Donations may be sent to The Norton Family, PO Box 51062, New Bedford, MA 02745
* Also call Laura Brobkel at 508-525-9189 — she has been organizing efforts to help the family.
* And Hinckley's carpenters welcome donations toward their effort. Call Hinckley at 683-7116.
By Bruce Burdett
bburdett@eastbaynewspapers.com