The basic chord pattern and strumming in the song is:                          
            
  (G)       (Am7)      (B/D)        (C)

(d-u-d)    (u-u-d)    (u-u-d)    (u-u-d-u)


(Verse 1)

(G)    (Am7)     (B/D)    (C)
Ol' Joe's got a Boston whaler
(G)    (Am7)   (B/D)    (C)
he bought in Key Biscane
(G)    (Am7)       (B/D)     (C)
He swears since the day he's got her
(G)     (Am7)    (B/D)   (C)
she's been nothing but a pain
         (Am)
when the sun's at his back
        (Am)
and the winds in his face
(D)
it's just him and the wheel
(Am)
he wouldn't take a million for the
(D)
way it makes him feel

(Chorus)

(G)
boats
(G)
vessels of freedom
(G)             (D)
harbors of heal-ing
(C)
boats

(Verse 2 - same chords and strumming as beginning here)

Newport is where John hung his hat
til he lost his wife Jo
now forty feet of sail antique
is where Ol' John calls home
(Am)   
he watched his life pass before his eyes
       (D)
in the middle of a hurricane
(Am)
came out alive on the other side
                  (D)
that's where "the other side" got its name

(Repeat Chorus)

(solo)

(Verse 3 - same chords and strumming as beginning here)

Twenty years of a landlocked job
was all that tom could take
sitting at his desk
all alone and depressed
says this just cant be my fate
(Am)   
went home that night and told his wife
(D)
you can tell all your friends
(Am)
it's been real but it ain't been fun
(D)
gonna get us one of them

(Repeat Chorus)

(Ending)

(G)              (D)
vessels of freed-om
(C)
boats 


This is my first tab. Sounds close to me. Enjoy!