John Harris and Chesapeake Light Craft

In the 25 years that John Harris has owned and operated Chesapeake Light Craft (CLC) of Annapolis, Maryland, the company has delivered more than 45,000 boat kits to aspiring builders in about 70 countries. The company’s offerings have expanded from a couple of easy-to-build kayaks with basic templates, precut parts, and blueprints to 120 designs for paddling, rowing, sailing, and power.

Over the years, customer support has broadened to include robust technical assistance and easy-to-follow instruction manuals and videos. Also, each boat kit includes everything needed to complete a project, which in addition to precut plywood parts can include—depending on the chosen boat—sandpaper, sanding blocks, finishing tools, gloves, paint, varnish, fiberglass fabric, stainless-steel fastenings, cordage and rigging essentials, sails, oars, paddles, vinyl lettering, laser-cut nameplates, brushes, rollers, respirators and filters, mixing cups, masking tape, squeegees, flotation foam, sliding seats, foot braces, oarlocks, oar leathers, trailers, cartop racks, life jackets, a build-it-yourself tool box, safety gear, bailing sponges and pumps, and even waterproof beanie caps, socks, and gloves. It’s pretty much everything except the launching ramp and open water.

Along the way, CLC has built tow-tank models for the U.S. Navy and shipyard contractors; keels, centerboards, and rudders for sailboat manufacturers; airplane parts; computer desks; school woodshop projects; large architectural elements; thousands of scale-model boats; crash-test dummies; surgical masks during the Covid-19 pandemic; and “whatever keeps the CNC machine busy,” Harris says. In 2015, he designed an ultralight marine-plywood Teardrop Camper trailer light enough to be towed by an ordinary car and outfitted for road travel with a queen-sized bed and a tailgate galley. CLC has delivered nearly 1,000 of those kits so far.

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