Bob Sack of Covesville, Virginia, built this Catspaw Dinghy model using plans and an instruction book from the WoodenBoat

Mike Lancaster built this Chesapeake 18 touring kayak from a kit by Chesapeake Light Craft. He took these photographs on the Tualatin River in Tigard, Oregon.

Ryan Dewsbury spent many hours sanding his Chesapeake Light Craft Sassafras 16 before launching it last May with Heather Bal on Lake Huron in Kincardine, Ontario.

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.

William Leake likes the look of strip-built canoes but his wife prefers the look of lapstrake canoes. He thought a hybrid model—strip-planked on the bottom half and lapstrake above that—might be the solution to both of them getting what they want.

The Launchings section of WoodenBoat No. 225 featured Wayne Mueller's skiff BLUEBIRD, a 17′ 6″ design that Wayne based on Tom Hill’s Long Point skiff and Mark Murray's Sea Hoss skiff. BLUEBIRD was built from meranti and sapele marine plywood on sawn elm frames.

Kevin Moroney of Cape Coral, Florida, was building an 18′ modified sharpie skiff when his grandson, Colin, was born in Denver, Colorado, last year.

Though he describes himself as a man with little money and no experience, Ed Mahoney decided the first boat he built would be a big one: a Didi 38 designed by Dudley Dix.

First build of a Wood Duck 12 from Chesapeake Light Craft—great support from CLC, and the boat builder forum was also an excellent resource. Had a prototype launch August 2014—still needed a few final touches, but I wanted my daughter to have a ride before she left for college.