Bruce Gifford is a tugboat captain in Providence but in his free time, he builds models to scale of fishing boats and other vessels. Mr. Gifford was born and raised in South Westport and attended Westport schools.

His wife, Sarah, is a part-time merchandising vendor for Target and stay-at-home mother. The Giffords have two children, Ethan, 2, and Nathaniel, 4. Nathaniel attends pre-school at the Macomber School on Gifford Road. The couple met after Bruce's older brother, Deputy Police Chief John Gifford, and his wife, talked them into going on a blind date. They have been married for eight years. After high school, Mr. Gifford spent seven years fishing, including on lobster boats. He briefly worked for a tugboat company out of Virginia, then went back to fishing and then went back to tugboats.

PARENTS? "My father was a chemist for 34 years. He worked for ICI in Dighton. My mother stayed at home."

LOVE OF BOATS? "I was always into the water. I was always interested in boats growing up. I used to draw them when I was young and paint watercolors. I knew I wanted to do something on the water."

FISHING? "My father always had a boat so I went on it with him. My neighbors were fishermen and I went with them, too."

WHO DID YOU WORK FOR? "I worked for Albert Rosinha, Jimmy King and Elmer Manchester."

FIRST TUGBOAT JOB? "My first job was as a cook and deck hand in the Eastern Seaboard and Gulf of Mexico."

CURRENT JOB? "For the last nine years, I have worked in Providence. I started as a deck hand and just made captain last year."

WHAT DOES YOUR TUGBOAT DO? "We assist all the ships in the Narragansett Bay area — coal ships, car carriers, tankers. The ships need help getting in and out of the dock."

LIKES IT? "It's neat. Not so much in the middle of the night in the wintertime or on a snowy night but overall I like it. "

WHEN DID YOU START MAKNG MODELS? "I've been building boat models since I was young. I've just stuck with it. I even made one with a radio remote control. ... When I injured my leg, an old fishermen's wife asked me if I could build a model of her husband's boat."

HOW MANY HAVE YOU DONE? "I've done eight on commission and have six on a waiting list. I build primarily fishing and workboats. The next one is a sailboat. All the rest are New Bedford scallopers and I have a tugboat to do."

One close to completion now "is the second of two for the same man, a dragger and a scalloper."

ANY OTHER KIND YOU'D LIKE TO TRY? "I'd like to do a West Coast style crab boat."

HOW ARE THEY BUILT? "I do not build them from a kit. They are built 100 percent from scratch. Everything is to scale. I get the plans from the owner or architect that built it ... It's built the way a real boat is built. It's got a keel, stem, bulkheads, frames. I try to include everything that's on the boat — the mast, rigging. I use soldered brass and a silver solder to make the pieces come together like the welded steel that real boats use. "

WOOD USED: "The boats are made of bass wood."

PAINTING? "The painting is a tough chore. It is all hand painted. I use three coats of every color with a primer, sanding and finish paint."

WHEN DO YOU FIND THE TIME? "I wake up real early. I do two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening on days I am off. I want to be able to spend time with my children so I do it in the early morning or at night. I work a 24-hour shift on the tugboat. It's basically a week on and week off. I can come home at night if there's no work ... I used to go away two to six weeks. Now I am in and out of my house almost daily."

By Peggy Aulisio

paulisio@eastbaynewspapers.com