Launchings

John Jamieson worked for decades as a shipwright in Juneau, Alaska, before retiring to Kila, Montana. He now builds skiffs, kayaks, drift boats, and, with the arrival of a niece, cradle boats.

Haven 12 1/2

My first boat to build (and first woodworking project in 50 years). Built to teach my grandsons sailing on lakes in Georgia and they seem to be taking to it. The CLC kit was straightforward, with just enough challenge to make you know you’re building a boat.

This is a boat i just finished from Chesapeake Light Craft. It is the Mill Creek Hybrid, consisting of an okoume hull and cedar strip deck. The launch occurred yesterday at Seed Lake in the North Georgia mountains.

Red cedar strip-built Freedom 17 canoe designed by Steve Killing. Followed Ted Moores’ book “Canoecraft” religiously as this is my first boat. Ash inwales and outwales, cherry yoke and thwarts, Port Orford Cedar with walnut accented decks. Paddles carved from maple.

Glen L. Design, 16′ Tug Along of Gig Harbor, WA, USA.Maiden voyage July 2nd, 2020.For his second wooden boat build, Stewart Nelson, chose this stitch and glue vessel because it’s compact design was ideal for towing and V berth spacious enough for overnight stays.

I found I was in need of a dinghy that needed little maintenance, so I shopped around and found that everything available was either sprayed fiberglass or press formed plastic. The cheap plastic and over priced fiberglass models just weren’t my cup of tea so I decided to design one myself.

At The Folk School of Fairbanks, Alaska, last August, a group of students and their instructors, Andy Reynolds and Bruce Campbell, built a 12′6″ Stand-up Paddleboard in a little over two weeks.

Alyssa Drake and her father, Peter Drake, built this Phil Bolger–designed 8′ Elegant Punt. They launched CHUPI at Mystic Seaport in the fall of 2011. Plans are available from Phil Bolger & Friends, Inc., P.O. Box 1209, Gloucester, MA 01930.

Irv, Murray, and Jan Herman adapted this 12' Whitehall from a 14' boat built at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1890, and launched in on May 6, 2001. The Howard Chapelle drawings are in the Smithsonian Institution Maritime collection, National Museum of American History, Washington, DC.