The people of Ile-aux-Coudres talk of their fading tradition of constructing boats to ride the seas.

Five men work together in a communal effort to build a skiff on Ile-aux-Coudres, an island in the St. Lawrence River. It is built in a traditional fashion, all the more remarkable because no blueprint is used. The film does not merely record a building tradition, it reveals the character of the craftsmen, who are influenced by a pre-industrial way of life underscored by spontaneity and wit.