Jose “Joe” Magalhaes describes his work as a paint shop foreman for the Fairhaven Shipyard located in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. He is a Portuguese immigrant who is fifty-seven and has been working at Fairhaven Shipyard since he left high school at sixteen years old. He talks about how he got started “back in the day” and learned his craft from his highly skilled co-workers.  He began working in the paint shop and would help prep wooden fishing boats before they could be painted.  Over the years, he acquired more skills and learned all the tricks-of-the trade.  He has been a foreman for twenty-seven years, supervising between 16 – 25 workers where work is split between two shipyards.  He describes how things have changed over the years and also how there is a great need for young people to learn his trade so that this important craft can continue.  He speaks about how his job brings him so much pride, satisfaction and a great sense of accomplishment. It gives him so much satisfaction to see a completed project - considering the condition a boat came in and how it is transformed.  He gives his employer his best, is constantly learning and improving and strives at all times to “make it happen” and get the work done.

This oral history was produced in 2017 as part of the Workers on the Waterfront Oral History Project conducted by New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center with funding from an Archie Green Fellowship provided by the Library of Congress.