Boats

Image of two people canoeing on lake Michigan in a skin on frame canoe.

Having lived on water my whole life, I spent time in boats from an early age. Boats are the ultimate example of form follows function. They need to be buoyant, strong enough to carry their cargo, and sleek enough to cut through the water. The organic nature of a boat— no straight lines, only gentle contours—mimic the beauty of nature.

I was thrilled to finally start building boats in 2012, when I attended a workshop on skin-on-frame kayak construction with Brian Schulz at Cape Falcon Kayak. There are a few things I find interesting specifically about skin-on-frame boats. Their construction is meant to be lightweight. Nothing unnecessary is included in the design. They are clean and efficient. Requiring exacting, careful construction, you can still build one relatively fast.

Retiring from a career of building custom homes a few years ago has not meant that I have stopped building, only that I get to choose what I build. Building these boats, and teaching others to build them, is a real joy.

Image of a skin-on-frame canoe dyed brown.

Teaching

Image of men holding up three finished frames for skin-on-frame canoes.
Image of a woodshop at the start of building canoes with teacher David LaPaglia.
Image of a boat building class with David LaPaglia.
Image of man lashing stringers on canoe.
Image of skinning skin-on-frame canoes in Door County.
Image of finished boats in Door County.

This group built three boats over an eight day period in beautiful Door County, Wisconsin.

Building

Image of steam bent white oak canoe seat.
Image of wooden kayak curve details.
Image of clamping up the outer material on skin-on-frame canoe.
Image of uncoated skin on frame kayak.
Image of skinning skin-on-frame canoe.
Image of west greenland wooden kayak frame.
Image of solo skin-on-frame canoe.
Image of five skin-on-frame canoes in shop.
Image of West Greenland coaming of skin on frame kayak.
Image of Aleca prepping ribs on her canoe.
Image of F1 skin on frame kayak.
Image of tandem skin-on-frame canoe.

On the Water

Image of green skin-on-frame canoe at lakeside.
Image of the launch of three new canoes.
Image of canoe launch day in Door County.
Image of a boat builder paddling a skin-on-frame canoe.
Image of skin on frame kayak.
Image of paddler putting skin-on-frame canoe into Lake Michigan.
Image of man in green canoe paddling on Skokie Lagoons.
Image of a brown skin-on-frame boat in lake.

Image of David LaPaglia testing solo canoe at Skokie Lagoons.