In his thirties, Lang became a log salvager and taught himself to build boats. He started with small canoes and wooden rowboats and went on to create larger craft—steel tugs and barges. He built a welded aluminum fishing boat, the Whalebird, and fished with it for five years. He invented an apparatus that baited longline fishing gear. In 1984, he was granted a US Patent for it, but decided to leave maritime enterprises behind.
