Launchings

Ray McConnell and John Vinal built this 9′6″ Nutshell Pram and then raffled it last October at the Damariscotta Pumpkin Festival. The proceeds of the raffle when to the American Cancer Society in memory of Dr. Jennifer Lynn McConnell. 

Ed Vickery helped to build and repair boats for quite a while before he built his first wooden surfboard. He built it from several woods including bamboo, black walnut, fir, aframosa, and paulownia; then covered everyting with a layer of 4-oz fiberglass.

Rich Vogel purchased this 15' Marsh Cat sailboat in 2003. He named her JASMINE and added seats, lazarette, boom gallows, tabernacle to the hull constructed by Dan Fry in 1996. Rich lives near Boston, Massachusetts, and uses JASMINE on the waters from Boston Harbor to Nantucket Sound.

The Rosebud was strip-built of tamarack following the classic lines of the Columbia dinghy from WoodenBoat plans. The tamarack was harvested from two large trees on our Norwich, Vermont property in June, 2012 and construction started in late summer.

8′ General purpose stitch and glue kayak made of 2 sheets of plywood. The boat weighs 30lb, very easy to transport. Plans are available at www.plyboat.com

Bob Guess launched this Lawley Madelon yacht tender on August 1, 2001. She is planked with white juniper cedar on laminated white oak ribs. Each strake is epoxied to its neighbor. The trim is mahogany.

My friend Will Craig rebuilt RETREAD using Okoume plywood. I bought her in 1988, sailed her for 18 years, then sold her in 2005 to pay for a bicycle tour. Last year, I bought her back and restored her over the winter.

John Beck built this Chesapeake Light Craft Shearwater 17 hybrid using white and red cedar strips for the hull and decking, and added aniline dye to the hull to give it a blue color.  John won the best in show at the 2007 Okoume Fest sponsored by CLC.

This Chesapeake Light Craft Wood Duck 10′ hybrid strip kayak was built with white cedar, walnut, and Doug fir by Community Boat Building campers.

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.