Launchings

Rob Wybierala enjoyed building this San Juan Dory so much; he stopped going to work so he could finish it. Now he owns a small boatbuilding company in Maryland. GRIFF'S LANDING is built of plywood with sawn frames.

Gypsy is a 14′ dory built over the winter by Bill Blanas with the help of his minions George Rhodes and Adrian Reinhardt. It is built primarily of Sitka spruce, and was launched this September at Jewel Lake in Anchorage, Alaska, in a carnival-like atmosphere.

I built this Långedragsjulle 10 in Ekami, Woodenboat Building school, Finland. The boat’s origin is from Western Sweden in early 20th century. Originally it ought to have a bermuda rig, but I wanted more simple rig for easy towing and launching.

Mike Elliott rescued this 35-year-old Chestnut Prospector canoe from a barn and restored it for David and Virginia Moore of Delta, BC, Canada. He used cedar to repair the hull, ash to replace the gunwales, and cherry for the new decks. The seats are hand-woven cane.

Jim Earl modified Edwin Monk's plans for this Curlew sloop by giving it a gaff rig, instead of Marconi, and carvel planking, instead of lapstrake. He found the design in Monk's book "How to Build Wooden Boats, (Dover Pub, 1992).

John Burke built this pirogue using the Zydeco 14 plans by Applegate Boatworks of Veneta, Oregon. He writes "it is 13'3" in length and 34" in beam, constructed of 9mm okoume plywood on the bottom, and 6mm for the sides, a total of two 4 x 8 sheets were needed to construct the hull.

Jeff Spira has news from Iceland. He writes, "Geir Gislason and August Hinriksson recently launched this new 11' stitch-and-glue skiff. It has 1/4" plywood frames and 1/4" plywood covering. The design is a Spira International Mission Bay plan, available from Spira International, Inc., P.O.

The Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Port Hadlock launched on June 14, three classic Whitehalls built for the British Broadcasting Corporation. The BBC used the boats in August 2013 to recreate John Wesley Powell’s 1869 exploration of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.

David Jarrett rescued this boat and spent one year restoring it, before launching it in July 2002. It had been in storage for years, and had numerous layers of paint and varnish to be removed. He refinished the hull and replaced the seats and floors.

Tom Diehl launched CEPHEID on August 29, 2001 on Shabonna Lake in central Illinois. CEPHEID is an Arch Davis Sand Dollar design, 12' long. Tom built her of Okoume plywood, ash, oak, and mahogany, finished with epoxy. The spars are Sitka spruce.