English: Women workers at Dr Alexander Graham Bell's laboratory Beinn Bhreagh, Baddeck, Nova Scotia, Canada. The Bells often employed local women from Baddeck and other places. The main focus throughout the war (World War I) was a program ran from the estate by Mabel Bell’s former secretary Gretchen Schmitt. The Bells converted one of the houses on their estate into a residence for the women from out of town. During the war the Bell Boatyard consisted of a large open shed that was used as the primary shed to build lifeboats for the Canadian Navy. During this time the boatyard was managed by a Sydney native by the name of Walter Pinaud. The boat yard also produced the 55’ yawl Elsie designed by naval architect George Owen and built by Walter Pinaud. Elsie was built as a gift for the Bells daughter Elsie Bell Grosvenor and her husband Gilbert Grosvenor.