Launchings

SHIRLEY is a Redfish Kayaks Spring Run. She has been something of labour of love, having been in progress for 4 plus years. She is built of Western Red Cedar, Paulownia and Hoop Pine, and comes in at about 18Kg or 40lbs.

We launched our Penobscot 14 after Just under two years build time. All plywood is Hoop Pine. The stem, stringers, transom, and thwarts are all Tasmanian Blackwood, with the rest a mix of other Australian hardwoods.

Launched in Canberra and it rows like a dream.

PERFECTO is a CLC Pocketship designed by John Harris and modified by Master Violin Maker, Scott W Hershey of Dillsburg, PA. I stretched PERFECTO by 1′ and extended the cabin and widened footwell. Building photos are on YouTube videos and are in 3 parts.

I built this 18′ Palmer fantail launch to plans I obtained from Mystic Seaport Museum. The original boat was built around 1910 and had a Palmer gas inboard engine. I adapted the plans for modern strip plank construction and used western red cedar for planking, fiberglassed inside and out.

Rob Caveney launched this glued-lapstrake plywood Annapolis Tandem Wherry in April this year following plans from Chesapeake Light Craft. The hull is 18′9″ long, Rob reports that,“As advertised, this boat is a real rocketship.

J. Keith MacKenzie started construction on this Jay Benford dinghy in 2002. A 74 years of age, Keith thought it was time he built a rowing boat. He got materials and help from Captain Jim Shotwell of Nescopeck, PA.

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.

“The Fence” was donated to the Anacostia Watershed Society by teenagers Aaron and Alana Richards, and launched on July 17, 2013.The rowboat had its unusual origins as a project between next-door neighbors. The Fields/Richards and Batson/Eatons shared an aging fence in Takoma Park, Maryland.

Art Ross writes "Thompson Bros. of Peshtigo, WI, built this TVT Hi-Speed Fish Boat in 1954. She spent the last 30 years residing in an Amish barn. She is 14' LOD, has a 55" beam, and goes real fast with a 1967 Mercury 350.

The International Yacht Restoration School in Newport, Rhode Island, had care of the 75-foot, Nevins-built power yacht CIGARETTE for several years. Jerry Bass bought her and after cutting her in half, (sounds like a magician, doesn't it?), trailered her to his shop in Point Pleasant, NJ.