I’ve built five boats, and all were truly rewarding projects. The first was an 8′ pram that I built to my own plans in about a week. Having done a lot of carpentry, I knew how to use woodworking tools, but I really didn’t have a clue about boatbuilding. The second and third boats were skiffs, an 8-footer and a 12-footer, and I paid more attention to detail as I refined my skills. I built the fourth boat, a cedar-strip Rangeley 15, from a Newfound Woodworks kit, and my latest build is another kit from the same company: the 16′ 2″ Adirondack Guideboat, based on a design by Warren Cole.Adirondack guideboats were designed and built beginning in the 1840s for guides to take their wealthy clients fishing in the lakes and streams of New York state's Adirondack Mountains. Guides rowed these boats from the forward seat while the client sat in the stern and cast a fly rod.

Sarah Vincenzo

One of the benefits of strip-plank construction is the uncluttered interior. I chose to buy the optional cane seats from Newfound Woodworks; the seats add that final touch of old-world class to the boat.

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