Gary Strombo of Everett, Washington, told his friend John Leyde that he wanted to build a boat. As often happens, the moment you speak of your wishes to someone else, the momentum to carry them out begins to build. Gary had had no experience building boats, but John got his start decades ago and had several boats to his credit, including two electric launches and a diesel launch that he later converted to steam power. Gary had taken an interest in Adirondack guideboats and found plans and instructions for a strip-built version in Building an Adirondack Guideboat by Michale Olivette and John Michne.

With John looking on, Sigrid takes the measure of the first 15 of 29 frames.
Wow! What a beauty. Thanks so much for sharing her with us.
I admire people who follow their dreams no matter what those dreams are. Building anything from scratch takes time and planning. Congratulations on sticking with it.
What a lovely boat! The cedar planking is magnificent and she’s impressive from the inside, too. But the most touching thing about this build is that you included Sigrid so fully in the build. What a great experience for a child. I can tell she enjoyed it by her enthusiasm in the photos!