Launchings

Here is a Jeff Spira designed Pescadero I recently completed. It was designed as a light tackle tarpon hunter for the central gulf coast of Florida. The boat performs better than expected and makes an ideal fishing platform.

My first attempt at building anything out of wood was what I call the Drift Boat Skiff. The Drift Boat Skiff is plans built from the book, “THE WEEK END SKIFF” BY Richard Butz and John Montague.

Wally Raithel built this 6′ lapstrake cradle dinghy for his twin grandchildren. The non-identical twins, William and Sophia, take turns skippering and keeping watch below.

Richard Scarlet built this Shellback dinghy over several months at The Little Boat Shop in New Bedford, MA. Boat shop owner Steve Bussiere showed him how to make a few modifications and enhancements such as laminated mahogany hanging knees to Joel White's basic design.

On Dec 2, 2015, Mark Nye launched his strip-built Wahoo Fast Sea Kayak. The hull and deck are Western Red Cedar with Alaskan White Cedar and Puruvian Walnut, and the combing/bulkheads are Sapele plywood. Construction took a little under 200 hours spread over a three-month period.

This 1954 Peterborough Aqua Flyer cedar strip runabout was restored over 6 years with interruptions for kids and many other fun things. All ribs, keel, keelson, stem, and seats were replaced and the bottom was fibreglassed. The restoration was a family effort involving three generations.

ZIP is a 1953 Alcort Sunfish, built in Waterbury, CT, the 13th Sunfish from the first pre production batch of 20 boats. Alex Bryan and Cortlandt Heyniger (ALCORT) built these boats and gave them to friends and family to see if they would like the cockpit and wider beam.

Mark McGinley built this Iain Oughtred design 7 1/2′ Auk “ELSIE KAY” from Okoume plywood as well as locally cut Quarter sawn oak, ash, and pine. She is the tender for his Pacific Seacraft PS-25 located in the Apostle Islands area of lake Superior.

Don Bishop of Sanibel Island, Florida, designed and built this trailerable 22′-6″ Gaff cutter to explore America’s coasts and to cruise the Bahamas. The composite 800 lb. lead/glass swing keel provides 18″ and 5′-5″ draft. The hull is cedar strip and glass.

The Pride of Buffalo, designed and built by Michael R Weekes is a 16′ long, 10′ wide, 9′ high geodesic houseboat inspired by R Buckminster Fuller. It was launched at Canalside on the Buffalo waterfront at the Western Terminus of the Erie Canal on Thursday, July 25th.