We still have a few open spots in our Doryak Class at WoodenBoat School August 18-31. Building the Doryak River Dory at WoodenBoat School All our other classes for this year are sold out. Here are five reasons you need to sign up for this delightful class today: Boatbuilding is good for the soul. As the late great boatbuilder and author Dynamite Payson said, “Among the men who ply the various trades, I have observed that the ones who work with boats—designers, builders, and users—are usually happier than most others, and of these, the very happiest in my opinion are boatbuilders who use edged ..read more

Dawn Kish photo Cricket and I are pleased to announce four boatbuilding classes we will be teaching in 2024. We made a decision a couple years ago that we work together far better as a team than teaching solo. It gives is far more time to break away and work with folks one-on-one, or scamper off to find parts and materials. And often when one of us fails to get a concept across, the other of us has a different approach that does the trick. Here is our line-up for the coming year: Recreating Woodie’s Last Boat. Zion Canyon Mesa, Springdale, Utah. March 24-29   Woodie Hindman is generally ..read more

Not wasting any precious time we headed off for our honeymoon. Our flight out of Flagstaff was fine, but the next flight to Philadelphia was delayed interminably. We finally arrived in time to run across the entire airport and watch our flight to Bangor pull away from the gate. Arghh. No more open flights to Bangor for two days. After a night in a grungy hotel we rented a car and drove nine hours to Bangor. We paid a bit extra for a Prius “or similar.” They gave us a hybrid Jeep that the hybrid didn’t work in. Uncomfortable, unsafe, and more than a little grumpy, we drove on getting maybe 20 m ..read more

Although I have been on the road and on the run for most of the year, there was some sweet solitary shop puttering time in the middle. I installed the Emmert’s Turtleback Patternmaker’s Vice I picked up in Maine (and Anabelle brought across country). I’ve always lusted for one on the big originals. Now I have one. It spins in several directions for clamping just about any project in any position. I lined the jaws with leather for woodworking projects. It took the place of the smaller reproduction patternmaker’s vice I’ve had for years. That one moved to the clamp table, which also got reorgan ..read more

Now that I have turned seventy and retired from commercial guiding I can sit back and relax. If only I knew how. I went on a road trip to retrieve various things. In Moab I picked up all the heavy iron objects that Anabelle graciously drove back from Maine for us. In Green River I checked in at the Powell Museum regarding the River Runner’s Hall of Fame in September that I was scheduled to be a part of, inducting my old boass and friend Martin Litton. Then on to Torrey to visit my dear old friend Tim Cooper.. and finally down to Hurricane, Utah where we all worked for Martin Litton long ago in ..read more

Building the Rogue River Special November 11-16 Lowell’s Boat ShopAmesbury, Massachusetts The river season is winding down and the winter boatbuilding and teaching season is on the horizon. This November we are delighted to be teaching another class at the amazing historic Lowell’sBoat Shop in Amesbury, Massachusetts. In this six-day course we will recreate Jerry Briggs’s classic Rogue River Special–said by many to be the best open drift boat ever built. Background: Throughout the mid-1900s Oregon Drift Boats were evolving on the McKenzie and Rogue Rivers. Their classic dory shapes were devel ..read more

We had one day off which we spent recuperating. Then it was back to the drawing board for a two-week class building the whitewater boat we call the Chub. This time I was the nominal teacher with Cricket as my assistant. But actually we just co-teach. Neither of us want to do it alone. With the lines drawn, we built the ribs and installed bulkheads and framing. Assembly day is always gratifying. For this boat we are doing our trademark fiberglass inner chine. Four folks are under the the boat smoothing the glass as soon as the bottom is fastened. We were quartered this year in the apartmen ..read more

Cricket taught her first class this spring–a six-day course in building the McKenzie River drift boat, or dory. I got to be helper boy, which was delightful. We started in the first night with lofting the lines from Roger Fletcher’s book, Drift Boats and River Dories. Once the class agreed on the fair curves of the boat, we moved on into frame expansion, transom expansion, and began building the parts. Crocket had a wonderful group of ladies in this class. Our old friend Pat Fanelli rolled into town for a few days. He had been working on a sign for our boatshop for several years and finall ..read more

You might want to get a drink and sit down–this is a long post. In late May Cricket and I headed out to do one of our favorite things–go to Maine and the Maritimes, starting with our least favorite thing–flying on an airplane. Fortunately fate had pity an awarded us an upgrade. Much better. In Brooklin, Maine we picked up some of our tools from WoodenBoat School and met up with Diane, a friend from high school some fifty plus years ago. We took the ferries across to New Brunswick. We spent a couple days with our friends Harry and Martha and got to enjoy their annual clam bake. By nightfall ..read more

A full day passed after we got off the Guide Training trip in Grand Canyon before we were rolling north at first light. We felt so rested. If I recall correctly, Nevada looks like this. The brothels are in disarray. We holed up in Klamath Falls for the night, then pressed on to Leaburg, on the shore of the McKenzie River, birthplace of the Oregon Drift Boat. We met with Roger Fletcher there at the McKenzie River Discovery Center–a pipe dream that is fast becoming a reality. It is based on the grounds and buildings of the old Fish Hatchery, where Keith Steele built many of his close to three ..read more