Launchings

My Stradivari 2.4 Hc came to be as someone once told me that there’s one thing you can’t do and that is to build a true metre yacht in plywood. Now it’s a statement that is denied by reality.

After a period of almost 13 years I finished my wooden schooner and launched it in a canal near my home in the eastern part of Holland. First I had to pass a lot of bridges before I could finish it all with stepping the masts.

Don Lewis took 16 months to build his first boat, PILGRIM, a Karl Stambaugh design called Redwing 18. It is an 18'6" cuddy cabin boat. Mr. Stambaugh's advice was invaluable and Kitzman's Lumber of Dixon, Il went out of their way to deliver special orders.

SHELBY is a 11'2" Shellback Dinghy built by Chris Ireland of Toronto, Canada. He built SHELBY over the winter of 2000-2001 and launched her into the Bay of Quinte at the eastern end of Lake Ontario in May 2001.

Rob Wybierala enjoyed building this San Juan Dory so much; he stopped going to work so he could finish it. Now he owns a small boatbuilding company in Maryland. GRIFF'S LANDING is built of plywood with sawn frames.

13′ Doug Hylan Beach Pea. Glued lap, okoume ply planking, black locust sheerstrake, stems and keel. Eastern white cedar thwarts and floorboards.

My son and I built this CLC stitch and glue Eastport Pram to serve as our dinghy for our Passport sailboat. We wanted something that was light weight, easy to use, and not a typical inflatable.

Kurt and Joan Magnusson restored this rowboat and re-launched it the summer of 2002. They found the boat at a yardsale in NH and bought it for $20. They replaced 11 ribs and all of the fastenings. They hired Skylar Thomson of Thomson Canoeworks in Connecticut to recanvas the boat.

This is the “Sea Rover” from the Science and Mechanics Boat Builder Handbook (circa 1958). This was built over the past 2 years. It is plywood over oak frames. I had actually built the 15′ version of this boat when I was 13 years old.

I built the Shearwater Sport kayak kit from Chesapeake Light Craft and added a Kuvia kayak sail. The boat is made with okume and sapele marine grade plywood. Picture taken at Moraine state park north of Pittsburgh PA for initial launch.