Vernon Davis Biography Profile

By Paul Vincent, Contributing Researcher

Boatbuilding is as much an occupation as it is a tradition and part of one’s heritage here in the Albemarle. For generations, local shipwrights have busily crafted their vessels along northeastern North Carolina’s shores. The enduring legacy of this staple maritime industry is kept very much alive today by several workshops and commercial operations dotted throughout our region.

In Dare County, the spirited ingenuity of boatbuilder Vernon Davis exemplifies the rich shipwright trade as practiced on Roanoke Island. Born in Manteo, in 1911, Davis grew to become a third generation boatbuilder. Davis’s great grandfather, George Washington Creef, Sr., is credited with developing the shad boat.

WHITE TAIL (F-64), 1963

McNaughton’s outboard E-class pleasure craft, built by Davis, set a new speed record at the tenth annual International Cup Regatta in Elizabeth City.

Courtesy Museum of the Albemarle and Peggy McNaughton

Vernon, along with his brother, Ralph, would come to build runabouts and other racing-type boats. Their innovative, slick fast hull designs won competitions as well as national and international acclaim. In 1963, one of his boats, raced by Elizabeth City local, Frank McNaughton, Jr., set a new speed record of 42.168 miles per hour at the International Cup Regatta that year.

Vernon Davis once said, “Just mention boats and I could go on talking forever.” He remained involved in designing and building boats into his 90s, before passing at the age of 94.