Launchings

Wayne Kaler built this 11′6″ Car Topper skiff designed by Phil Bolger, in an airplane hangar in Oakland, California. Fittingly, he called it FLYING ZUCCHINI.  He enjoyed sailing and rowing the boat on San Francisco Bay.

This Auklet has been built last Winter by Ernst (54) und Tristan Glas (9) as a tender to their wooden sailing boat Rondine, a 13m sloop, finished in 1993. The Auklet is now sailing at rondines foredeck.

In early August 2004, the 18'6" White Guide Canoe first touched water on Lake Winnipesaukee, NH where her owner, Matt LaMarche, spends his summer weekends. ELLIE BELLE took 4 months to build, being strip-built of cedar, ash, maple, cherry, and rosewood, cover with cloth and epoxy.

PERFECTO is a CLC Pocketship designed by John Harris and modified by Master Violin Maker, Scott W Hershey of Dillsburg, PA. I stretched PERFECTO by 1′ and extended the cabin and widened footwell. Building photos are on YouTube videos and are in 3 parts.

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.

Rich Hanenburg dedicated more than 5000 hours over 6 years to the construction of his 28' Nordcoaster called HOHUM. The hull and cabin are made from plywood, with framing in mahogany, fir, and oak; then Rich covered the entire boat with fiberglass and epoxy.

Bruce Lemon designed this 17' Aleutian Baidarka skin-on-frame kayak, built by Charles Hall of Salt Lake City, UT. He made the frames from bent oak lashed to Douglas fir stringers. The skin is a synthetic canvas sewn together on top and around the canvas coaming. He used no glue or screws.

Though he tells us right away that he is not a carpenter, Dave Hepler did a pretty good job on this Glen-L Runabout, LITTLE ADVENTURE. His daughter, Lauren, was his chief assitant, though her carpentry skills were not any better than his.

This sharpie was launched at Lake Wyvenhoe, Queensland, Australia. It was built by John Hockings over six months, and was inspired by Bill Schwicker's Egret and his 3 fathom sharpie.

HORNET is a 1981, 18' Hankins sailing skiff, recently relaunched by Damian Siekonic of Privateer Media Built by Charles Hankins & sons of Lavallette, New Jersey, as hull number CHS-812-M81G, HORNET has appeared in three films since being bought by Siekonic in 2000.