Photo: Kyle Bray/WBZ NewsRadio
MANSFIELD, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Thirteen-year-old Caleb Huffenus has always been interested in building things.
He started with toys like Legos.
"When he was little, he never used to want to follow Lego directions," his mother Samantha said. "He kind of just wanted to do everything by himself and be creative. So, I was not surprised when he wanted to start building boats."
The Mansfield middle schooler started to tackle more complex engineering projects like designing and building a wooden motorboat that he took out on nearby Fulton Pond.
Named the Ariel, he completed the project in his own in his backyard.
Caleb said there were some anxious moments when he took the boat for its first cruise.
"I was just very nervous it was going to start leaking," he said. "But once we had a few minutes out in the water and it was doing ok, I relaxed a little bit and had a good time on it."
During the boat-building process that included outfitting the Ariel with a four-horsepower engine, Caleb said he learned a new skill by having to work with fiberglass.
As for the Ariel, Caleb said he may upgrade to a new model, but for now, the boat is cruising along just fine.
Caleb said he hopes one day to be an engineer.
"I think I'd like to be an engineer when I'm older. Mechanical engineering, something like that, where I could design things," he said. "I like building, but I do a lot of designing first. I probably spend the same time designing first as I do building," Caleb said.
WBZ NewsRadio's Kyle Bray (@KyleBrayWBZ) reports.