Launchings

At the age of 12, Kevin McDonnell decided he wanted to build a boat. He sought advice from a family friend, Steven Schoeck, who had already built several boats. Steven agreed to help, provided Kevin did the work.

Dan Kelly of Weirton, WV, built this Joel White-designed Shellback dinghy in 2002. He modified the plans a little bit in using a titanium mast and titanium keel to keep her light. He also enclosed the area forward of the mast with cedar and filled it with foam insulation to add to her buoyancy.

Hope is a semi-dory built according to plans supplied by John Karbott. She will be rowed and powered by a 5hp outboard on the Westport and Sakonnet rivers. This is my first boat. It took six months to complete, and was a perfect complement to my work as a psychologist!

Markus and Angie Puskarich of Key West. FL launched this Bolger/Payson designed 18' Clam Skiff on Dec 9, 2001. They say the design is great for fishing and exploring in the Florida Keys.

Keith Telfer writes "A group of seven volunteers from Wellspring Cancer Support Center, both cancer patients and caregivers, built this canoe in ten weeks. We built it for a charity auction to raise money for the Center.

Chesapeake Light Craft strip built hybrid by Bob Silverman (2nd time boatbuilder) - wood duck hybrid 12 with white alaskan cedar and red western cedar planks. Took me 2 months and really enjoyed the build.

Joe Greeley launched POGO, a Footy model designed by Flavio Faloci, in 2015. Since then, she suffered severe damage in an accident in 2017 and spent the last two years “on the hard” undergoing repairs.

Working after school during her sophomore and junior years at Hemlock High School, Lindsay Cook built this 15'8" x 26"kayak H.M.K. RELENTLESS. Following the plans for Pygmy Kayaks Osprey Standard, she used okoume mahogany plywood and epoxy.

Julian Swindell found the plans for this Portuguese-style dinghy, NELLIE GRACE designed by Hannu Vartiala of Finland, who has these plans available for free at his website, koti.kapsi.fi/hvartial.

An Auklet, drawn by Iain Oughtred, built during past winter in the evenings, while hearing good music, finding a center between boat design, wood, music, my hands, tools and myself. It’s supposed to be a tender for my S/Y Rondine, driven by oars and an electric outboards.