Genta Ahmeti's passion for boats and seafaring began as a child when she went to the Durres shipyard, where her father worked as an engineer.
“I grew up with the part where I looked at the shipyard from the outside but also visited the shipyard from the inside. So it was a childhood dream. Normally it is the idea that the sea is gigantic and I saw these machines running on a large shipyard and to me, it all looked great, but it also attracted me,” she says to Euronews Albania.
To get closer to his childhood dream, Genta began his studies in the field of Wood and Naval Engineering.
For the time being, Genta's project, called "Life on a Boat", is expanding in several ways, as it is also creating a museum through which she seeks to introduce visitors to the history of sailing in Albania, dating back to the Illyrian period.
The minimum price of a wooden craft boat is 1500 euros, justifiable for the time it takes and the value of the work.
"We have boats that are, let's say the small boats we call 'sports', that take about 20 days to be produced and delivered to the customer. We also have large boats or boats, which require at least four months to be constructed, may go up to one year. It all depends on the model or the details that are put in,” Genta says.
Apart from the economic challenges or commitment that a boat requires, the moment it becomes functional and comes to life gives Genta a lot of emotion.
“When you see your job done, not just sailing… it's something that really gives you a lot of emotion. It is not described in words,” Genta says.