Launchings

I’m a fishing guide in Patagonia Argentina. A while ago I decided I wanted to build a drift boat. I got in touch with designer Jeff Spira and gave him a detailed account of how I was planning on using the boat and he came up with the Rawson.

Donal O'Callaghan writes that his boat is "one of those boats that whenever you row it, you should allow a few minutes to answer questions, because people are attracted to it like a magnet." He built this sleek beauty from plans by Graeme King of Putney, Vermont.

Single sliding seat open water shell, self-built, plans adapted to stitch and glue construction and to fit the Big River rowing rig from Fyne Boat Kits in the UK.

Herb Friese built this 16' x 35" cedar strip canoe, Abenaki model, from plans and materials supplied by Newfound Woodworks, Bristol, NH. Herb said it took about eight months of part-time work in his garage. The canoe will be used in the waters around Catskill, NY, by owner Kathleen Farrell.

Bob Bramble wanted to design a boat that would hold his one-man trailer and was able to launch 27'4" ONE COAT BRAMBLE in July of 2002 at Aqualand Marina in Maryland. Bob built the backbone of oak and Douglas fir. The frames are also oak and Douglas fir.

Joe Spadero constructed this Lawley yacht tender entirely of white cedar using traditional methods. The tender has a length just under 9' with a beam of 54." She weighs only 35 pounds. The plans are available from Mystic Seaport in Mystic, CT.

I wanted to share with you a couple photographs of my Night Heron kayak (LOA 18′, beam of 20″), designed by Nick Shade of Guillemot Kayaks . The boat took nearly two years of weekends and evenings to complete, with work proceeding at a glacial pace during some periods.

Mike Hughes had hoped to build a Columbia dinghy for himself but, "as life, family, and business crowded in I never got past the stage of milling and seasoning the keel, and laying in the New Zealand kauri." Some years late, Mark Jack contacted Mike about building a Columbia for him.

PRISCILLA C is a small steam launch based on a Stuart Turner 5 A single cylinder engine of 2 1/4" bore and 2" stroke. It produces about 1/2 HP at 30 PSI from a water tube, wood fired boiler.