boatbuilding Archives - Small Boats Magazine

SCALLYWAG CAMP 2024

SCALLYWAG, John Welsford’s newest creation, will be the second group build and again perhaps the fastest way to get on the water regardless of your boat building skill level. Be one of the first to build SCALLYWAG with the assistance of the designer and Howard Rice. Both gents are highly skilled and you will not only have their undivided attention as you build together but you will also have the chance to drive away with a highly accurate hull to finish. Then help from these two doesn’t stop there, online support, phone video discussions are part of our commitment to help you get on the water! The build will take place in the Great Lakes at a boat shop on an 80 acre estate with housing for builders just a stones throw away. Contact Howard at [email protected], thepocketyacht.com

Lodging
The build site is on an 80 acre private home estate and our hosts offer their home for builders. There are three bedrooms available so please let us know if you would like one. There is also superb camping on site and both instructors plan to camp. If you wish to pitch a tent let us know. The bathroom, kitchen and shower facilities in the house are shared by everyone.

When
SCALLYWAG Camp is scheduled to begin at 8am on Monday morning June 24th, and concludes mid day on July 5th. Builders are welcome to move their tools into the shop on June 23rd between 12 noon and 5pm. Lodging will be available starting June 23rd.

Work Days
The build begins on day one with a short orientation session to help familiarize each builder with the build process and management of the shop space. Each work day will begin at 8am and end at 5pm unless we are having too much fun and decide push on into the evening. Lunch is an hour at noon. Each lunch break will be an opportunity for the group to engage in a small boat chalk talk by the build instructor pertaining to the boats being built, small boat use or other related topics, which builders request.

** Birds Mouth Mast Option **
One of the elements of the SCALLYWAG build that seems a bit daunting to builders is the construction of a hollow, tapered birds mouth mast. Last year before the 2023 SCAMP Camp the option was offered to produce masts during the Camp by working some evenings. As it turned out everyone enrolled selected the option and masts were built during the build. This option is being offered again in 2024 at a cost of $950. This cost covers the cost of materials including Sitka Spruce, epoxy, fillers and the instructors time. By any measure it is a bargain. Please select this option if interested as materials need to be sourced prior to the build.

Boat Trailer
You will need to bring a trailer for your new boat. It is suggested that a galvanized steel boat trailer is the most economical and actually perfectly suited for carrying your new boat. Any trailer with adjustable fore and aft bunks will work. A trailer with a long tongue makes it easy to back up while launching and retrieving.

Chase Small Craft – Spring Open Shop

JOIN US TO CELEBRATE SPRING AND THE COMING BOATING SEASON

Join us! Friends, customers, associates, vendors and supporters to talk boats, boat building, and the joy of making and using small boats. We will have light snacks and refreshments. Hopefully, the weather is good and doors will be open and the backyard displaying the boats that are here for a look see. Feel free to spread the word and bring family or friends. See you soon!

Park anywhere in our lot, preferably further in towards the end if there is space. Overflow parking can be found immediately one driveway south, if needed. Park there walk over.

Parking update!

If there are pick ups happening at the karate studio next door, you can park in the next lot south of us in the old driving range. There is a sandy pull off type area with plenty of room and a path to walk over to our property.

Contact Info: Clint Chase cell #207-602-9587 and if needed as back up Katy Nicketakis cell #207-615-9500

Dutch Wooden Boat Festival

In 2024 we will do it again and again at the same time as the Jutterhaven Days. Those who ‘didn’t know anything’ about the previous festival and were a bit surprised: put on your brave shoes and COME! Above all, feel welcome!

Our new Festival will also take place at Willemsoord in Den Helder.

What is the Dutch WoodenBoat Festival?

The Dutch WoodenBoat Festival was first held in July 2019 as a Dutch festival for wooden boats.

This festival is not only an ode to the centuries-long wooden boat building tradition that boosted our economic development, but also to the warm feelings that many enthusiasts get when they see…

What is there to do?

Seeing and ‘experiencing’ wooden boats and everything related to them; meeting like-minded builders and paddlers, admiring all the beauty on and out of the water; exhibitors with various products related to wooden ships; presentations, speakers while enjoying food and music.
There is an ABBA, the Amateur Boat Construction Award. A boat is even being worked on. The boat building schools do demonstrations.
We want a second hand market on Saturday, model builders at the weekend, youth activities?

In addition to this festival, there are also the Jutterhaven Days on Saturday and Sunday: a nice market with old crafts, street theater, music, catering, a nice initiative by Willemsoord BV.

Friday starts with the annual Botterrace, for the 15th time in 2024. Check out the Heldersebotters.nl website

How can I register?

It is a low budget event, but participants with a boat or companies that want a stand must register by sending an email to [email protected].

Visitors have free access everywhere, along the quays in the halls, the workshops and they can possibly visit the ships after approval by the owner.

32nd Annual WoodenBoat Show

Join us for the 32nd Annual WoodenBoat Show at the historic Mystic Seaport June 28-30, 2024. Mark your calendars now! Summer begins at the WoodenBoat Show!

Hosted by Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut, USA

Show Management:

WoodenBoat Publications
P.O. Box 78, Naskeag Road
Brooklin, Maine 04616
[email protected]
www.thewoodenboatshow.com

Exhibitor Information:

Andrew Breece
(207) 359-7751
[email protected]

Ray Clark
(401) 447-1506
[email protected]

45th Annual Wooden Canoe Assembly 2024

Join us for the premier event celebrating wooden canoe enthusiasts from around the globe, showcasing hundreds of stunningly beautiful yet highly functional canoes, from historic to modern, alongside related small boats such as Adirondack guideboats and sailboats. Located on the picturesque Lower St. Regis Lake in the heart of the Adirondacks, it’s a fun-filled experience for the whole family. Enjoy engaging lectures and demonstrations, thrilling excursions, on-water events, peruse vendors, explore canoes for sale, find tools and supplies, participate in auctions and raffles, and don’t miss out on the exciting kids’ programs.

Registration Fee (17 and under, free registration)

$20/day or $80 for the whole event

VIDEO Small Boat Tour: ESCA, 15′ Christmas Wherry

Posted on August 14, 2019April 21, 2020 by Anne Bryant

At The WoodenBoat Show in Mystic, Connecticut, Scott Williams brought ESCA, his impeccably built Christmas Wherry to exhibit among other small boats for “I Built It Myself.” The sail-and-oar boat won Best in Show for owner-built boats in the Concours d’Elegance awards, and this video shows why.

Scott built ESCA’s hull with glued, lapped Okoume plywood on white cedar frames. She’s got a 1-1/2″-thick Okoume keel, a stem of white oak, and the transom and thwarts are of quarter sawn Sapele. The spars are solid, laminated Sitka spruce.

What does Scott appreciate about boatbuilding? Well, as a contractor and builder normally working on land structures with straight lines and 90 degree angles, boats give him the opportunity to “throw away the square” and to do the satisfying work of sculpting and shaping wood “to the perfection of the boat.”

Fifth Annual Port Aransas Wooden Boat Festival 2019

Make plans to attend the Fifth Annual Port Aransas Wooden Boat Festival on April 12-13, 2019. This is a great family friendly event in the beautiful beach town of Port Aransas, Texas. Bring your wooden boats to display. Boats don’t have to be fancy, just made of wood. It can even be displayed unfinished. There is no entry fee for boat or spectators. Attend informative programs on boat building and boating. Build a boat at the Family Boat Building. Kids can build a model boat, too. April in Port Aransas is a great time of year with great weather and plenty of thing for the family to do. Check out www.portaransaswoodenboatfestival.org for more info.

Teaching With Small Boats Association Wants YOU

Posted on July 10, 2018November 26, 2018 by Anne Bryant

The TWSBA Steering Committee has reached out to say that there are regional meetings coming up in 2018, and they’re looking for a few things. Get involved with this great organization by taking part. They say:

They need your input for planning.
They need you to present and share the work you’re doing.
And, they need you to show up.

New England—July 28 in Boston (It’s really soon!)
Contact: Kelly Crawford, [email protected]
Here’s a link to their flyer.

Mid-Atlantic—November 3 in Philadelphia
Contact: Gary Lowell, [email protected]

Great Lakes—In October
Contact: Bill Nimke, [email protected]

Northwest—Planning an event in the Fall
Contact: Robin Mills [email protected]

Bay Area—October 18, Berkeley
Contact: Inka Petersen, [email protected]

South—Still trying to see if there is “critical mass”
Contact: Maury Kaiser, [email protected]

Canada—November 3rd in Halifax
Contact: [email protected]

Video: Popular Norwegian Video of John A. Andersen Now with English Subtitles

Posted on May 16, 2018April 21, 2020 by Anne Bryant

The Norwegian Coastal Federation, Forbundet KYSTEN, has translated a very popular video of theirs. Watching it gives an inside look at boatbuilder John A. Andersen’s pram-building class, and a portion of what KYSTEN is all about. New main titles in English serve to narrate unspoken portions where captioning helps the viewer understand the action, and of course there are new English subtitles for the various speakers. The photography is beautiful, and we envy the students, who get to spend a year building their own boats in a special shop with a master boatbuilder.

About Forbundet KYSTEN:
“The object of the association is to work to strengthen our identity as a coastal people, to maintain, transfer and develop traditional knowledge and practical learning (crafts, seamanship etc.) and to improve the standards of protection of our coastal culture. The local branches rally people from their communities to restore or build replicas of boats that are representative of the particular areas heritage. The original intent was to fix or build boats. But the focus has evolved. The scope of its activities has widened constantly.”

https://vimeo.com/258865692

OkoumeFest 2018

Chesapeake Light Craft will present its 20th annual small boat rendezvous, OkoumeFest, on Friday and Saturday, May 18-19, 2018.

“Okoume” is the plantation-grown African hardwood used in tens of thousands of CLC’s build-your-own-boat kits. OkoumeFest features an open house with technical seminars on Friday at the CLC plant in Annapolis, and on Saturday an on-the-water rendezvous at Matapeake State Park on Kent Island. This event is RAIN OR SHINE. Please note that if thunderstorms are detected nearby we’ll bring the boats off the water.

The Friday seminars are informative and fun, but the highlight of OkoumeFest always comes on Saturday, when we bring virtually everything in our shop over to the beach at Matapeake for our friends to paddle, row, sail, and generally put through their paces. We also encourage fellow boatbuilders to bring their homebuilt watercraft to show and compete for best-in-show honors and various awards.

OkoumeFest is also a special chance to try some of the boats, such as PocketShip, that they can’t usually take on the road with them. You’ll also be able to try out new designs, such as the Jimmy Skiff II, Tenderly XP, and the Waterlust Sailing Canoe. Attendance is free on both days this year, but please RSVP so that CLC can plan for the hordes.

Friday [schedule] features an open house at the CLC factory with shop tours, boatbuilding seminars with experts, and a cookout. Everything in the CLC store will be discounted, including boat kits.

On Saturday [schedule] the event moves to Matapeake State Park on Kent Island, where nearly 60 CLC boats will line the beach. They welcome you to try out boats all day long, or bring your own to show off.

Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding Admissions Open House

From NWSWB:

OPEN HOUSE EVENTS
Meet and speak fellow perspective students, current NWSWB students, alumni, and NWSWB staff and faculty.
Learn about the School’s history and future plans from the Executive Director and Chief Instructor
Take an extensive tour of the campus, shops, and facilities.
Get up close to the current boatbuilding projects.
Learn about the career paths and professional opportunities of NWSWB alumni.
Meet the Admissions Manager and learn about the application process and financial aid.
Enjoy all that Port Townsend has to offer, including the Annual Rhododendron Festival on Saturday and Sunday.
*Optional: Attend lecture and shadow a current student in the shop from 8:00 AM – 11:00 AM. Please choose option when registering.

Drake Raceboat Plans and Kits Are Now Available

Posted on November 4, 2017April 21, 2020 by Anne Bryant

When we reviewed the Drake Raceboat in our September 2017 issue, designer Clint Chase was studying the prototype, putting the finishing touches on the plans, and preparing to produce kits. The boat is now available both as plans or as a kit.

Those of you who enjoy rowing a go-fast boat might enjoy the Drake Raceboat. Our review pointed out: “The boat is quite easy to accelerate; a half dozen strokes and it was off and running. I did some speed trials in a marina where there was neither current nor wind. With a lazy, relaxed effort I easily maintained 3-3/4 knots; a sustainable exercise pace brought the speed up to 5 knots. Fluctuations in GPS speed readings… in the lightweight Raceboat spanned at least 1-1/2 knots—I’d estimate that the boat’s sprint speed averages out around 6 knots. It’s a fast pulling boat. While the Drake Raceboat is designed ‘for the greater speeds in race conditions,’ you don’t have to compete to appreciate the boat. It will give you an exhilarating workout and reward improvements in your stamina and technique, but it’s not so high strung that you can’t take it out for a relaxing outing.”

With winter coming on, it’s a good time to retreat to the shop for a boatbuilding project. By spring you could have a Drake Raceboat ready to row. You can now order plans or kits from Chase Small Craft.

Spokane Middle Schoolers from Marshall Islands Build for Summer Program

Posted on August 23, 2017April 21, 2020 by Anne Bryant

A sky-high view of fish lake, with canoes following the students' outrigger.

In Spokane, Washington, Shaw Middle School students launched a Marshallese-style canoe with outrigger and sailing rig after participating in a summer program with a boatbuilding focus. There is a small group of immigrants there from the Marshall Islands, and the program’s aim was to help with communication, reading, and feeling more connected to both their heritage and to their school in the hope of increasing graduation rates.

Read the whole story at The Spokesman-Review.

Students paddle their decorated outrigger.

Rocking the Boat, Rocking Manhattan

Posted on July 21, 2017April 21, 2020 by Anne Bryant

Registration is open for rowing teams to support Rocking the Boat at their Rocking Manhattan event. The 30-mile circumnavigation, planned for Saturday, September 23, is a fundraiser, and their goal is to ultimately raise $300,000 for their programs.

Rocking the Boat says they, “Empower young people from the South Bronx to develop the self-confidence to set ambitious goals and gain the skills necessary to achieve them. Students work together to build wooden boats, learn to row and sail, and restore local urban waterways, revitalizing their community while creating better lives for themselves. Kids don’t just build boats, boats build kids.” They’ve amassed a fleet of more than 50 student-built boats. Below is one of their latest, the recently launched Whitehall they named KALEIDOSCOPE.