Launchings

Wood Duck 10 hybrid with cedar deck

THE OTHER SIDE is a 16 foot drift boat built to fish the upper Kenai river for trophy rainbow trout. She is built on a Don Hill design and constructed primarily of clear fir by Sailor Ellison, and Bill Blanas in Nikiski Alaska.

This Calkins-designed double ender wanders the waters of Alberni Inlet under the command of her owner and builder, Walt Kusmin. At 26 feet long, she is on the large side for a home-built boat. BEAUFORT RANGER was first built in 1966, and relaunched in 2003 by Walt.

Launched in July 2002, David Jost built this sprit-rigged micro-cat-ketch from plans by Phil Bolger and Friends. He built FIREFLY using bronze-fastened marine plywood covered with 6 oz fiberglass set in epoxy.

Ron Rosene bought this boat in the summer of 2002 and restored it over the winter. EL RAY BARQUERO. is a 21' x 7' Skillcraft Day Cruiser made by Henry Boats in Plain City, Ohio in 1968. Zimmerman Boat Works in Columbus Ohio restored all the surfaces.

Art McRobbie of Edmonton, Alberta, outfitted his Nutshell Pram with a forward-rowing mechanism. Art can reached at mandamcrobbie@shaw.ca.

Reminiscences about racing war canoes at summer camp gave Rex Rothing and Bot Clinefelter the idea to build a war canoe (or two) of their own.

Jay Eugster writes "Here is a catboat I built in 2004 called COOL CAT, the plans of which were in your Fifty Wooden Boats to Build, it is a 11' dinghy by Charles Wittholz. It is 11' long, 5' beam with the gaff rig and dagger board.

Julie and Aaron Enstad, along with help from their fathers, Gale Enstad and Jim Galloway, built this 24' Tolman Jumbo Skiff named VIKING SØNN over two years. Aaron notes that Julie mixed all 40 gallons of epoxy one pint at a time.

This 17' Arctic Tern Kayak is Matt FitzGibbon's second boat. He built it from a kit by Pygmy Boats, Port Townsend, WA 98368. His children contributed to the building effort. He recommends the book Kayaks You Can Build by Ted Moores and back issues of WB for other would-be builders.