@sfchronicle: For 13 months after school and on summer days, 14-year-old Paxton Dewes and 16 other San Francisco teenagers came to the shop at India Basin Waterfront Park to loft and plane and shape and sand and chip their fingers to build a 16-foot wooden rowboat from scratch. On Saturday morning, all that free labor and dedication came to an end when the cohort of a youth development program called Rocking the Boat hoisted that skiff onto their shoulders and hauled it down to the pier for its ceremonial launching into San Francisco Bay. This marked the first launch of a new boat built in the old shipyard in at least 25 years, and it was deserving of a toast with sparkling apple cider and the pouring of bay water onto the bow, and after Mayor Daniel Lurie came down the gangway in his white boat shoes to christen it the Paradise, a full load of six boarded the craft to embark on the maiden voyage. The crowd of 75 supporters of the program chanted, “Get the mayor on the boat,” but his security detail nixed it, maybe in fear of the seals, so the boat pushed off without him. “It floats,” Paxton yelled with his arms raised overhead in a Rocky Balboa-like victory motion. Read more via the link in our bio. Visuals: Yalonda M. James/S.F. Chronicle Production: JJ Juarez/S.F. Chronicle

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