Launchings

Twelve years ago, Bill Burns and his sons rescued an old cedar skiff that was being used as a lawn ornament in Oriental, North Carolina. The started restoring the 16′ skiff by replacing some rotted areas, including most of the transom.

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.

She’s a light cedar strip solo canoe that will appeal to the paddling enthusiast that finds himself/herself without a partner for day trips, birdwatching, or the occasional overnighter.The canoe is light, stiff, easily driven and a joy to paddle.

Named after builder Bill Terry's wife, ADA BELLE is a Ken Swan Little Gem rowing skiff. The frame is mahogany with plywood bottom and sides. Built for use on Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, Bill reports that  his grandsons love the boat and that she is easily rowed and handles well.

Bear Mountain Boat Shop of Peterborough Ontario provided the plans for this 16' Chestnut Prospector Canoe built by Brian Maiorano of Missoula, Montana. He named her MAKAI, which is Hawaiian for "toward the ocean".

Completed Chester Yawl, from plans at Chesapeake Light Craft. This is a working boat, intended for rowing by one or two on lake Erie. It has a work boat finish. The gravel beaches on this part of Lake Erie are very hard on the finish.

This little skiff was designed and built with the grandchildren in mind. A fun and safe little boat was the intention. Positive flotation was made with bulkheads installed fore and aft, accessible through deck hatches.

After hours of searching through plans for a boat to build I figured the next best thing was to design my own. So working off the types of boats I liked I came up with C LEGS.Built from 6 mm ply glassed over she is strong and light.

TREEBEARD is a custom designed and built 20′ gaff rigged sail boat. I designed at the Arques School of Traditional Boat building, and built it in my garage over a period of 6 years. The frames are bent white oak, and the planks and decking are douglas fir.

Eric Russell first launched DAMFINO in October 2003 to be used as a touring canoe. He added the sail rig over the winter and relaunched her in April 2004, recycling an old Dyer Dink Sail. Don Meisner is the designer, he began construction in 1999.