Frederick F. Davis

CAMBRIDGE - Noted cruising yachtsman, art conservator, craftsman and long time Eastern Shore resident , Frederick Foster Davis, died Feb. 20, 2009, in his winter home on the Caribbean Island of Nevis. The only child of Frederick Dumont Grant Davis and Charlotte Lockwood Foster, he was born in Arlington, Va., on Nov. 23, 1944. He attended Arlington County public schools and graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Virginia Tech) in the class of 1967 with a bachelor's in industrial arts. In his highly varied and adventuresome life, Fred taught shop in Connecticut public schools, was an exhibits technician at the Mystic Seaport museum and a prop man for a high fashion photographer, restored antique autos, historic buildings, paintings and furniture, designed and built houses and wooded boats, and cruised Atlantic waters from Maine to the Caribbean aboard both power and sail yachts. In recent years, he focused his work mainly on antique furniture and art restoration at his Onancock, Va., studio and on custom built furniture mainly for Nevitian clients. Fred was well known for being able to build or fix literally anything, and he was extraordinarily generous in apply his talents to assist others. he was also a fine musician who entertained with song and guitar at many local gatherings. Among Mr. Davis' most notable achievements was the design and constructions of a 40 foot Chesapeake Bay type 3-sail bateau yacht named Charlotte Foster after his mother. Fred built the Charlotte at Richardson's boatyard new Cambridge, in the early 1970s, using few power tools and learning traditional techniques from the then master of Eastern Shore boat building James B. Richardson. He also designed an constructed two houses in the village of Morningstar on Nevis. These buildings are a unique blend of simplicity, economy and legendary strength while retaining attractive Caribbean motifs. Mr. Davis is survived by his beloved wife, Maria do Carmo Martins Fontes-Davis; his first cousin, Stanley Own Davis; and other relatives and many friends. Funeral services were held on the island of Nevis on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2009.