Wooden boat yard · est. on the lakeshore
A boat is a drawing you can row.
We build clinker dinghies and rowing boats the slow way — oak keels, larch planking, copper rivets — and we bring old boats back from the dead.
The drawing
Watch the hull come together.
I
Keel
oak · the backbone
II
Stem and transom
oak · the two ends
III
Ribs
steam-bent oak
IV
Planking
larch strakes, riveted
V
Gunwale
the stiff upper edge
VI
Thwarts
seats across the beam
The yard
Half new builds, half rescues.
A new dinghy takes a winter; a good restoration can take longer. Planks are replaced one at a time, ribs steamed back into shape, seams re-caulked — a wooden boat is never past saving until it has burned.
Oak — keels and ribs — hard, springy, honest
Larch — planking — light, resinous, hates rot
Mahogany — trim and tillers — because the eye eats too
Copper — rivets — they hold when screws let go
Our boats
Three hulls we know by heart.
Clinker dinghy 3.2 m
Overlapping larch strakes, rows sweet and takes a small outboard. A winter of work.
from $6 650
Carvel rowing boat 4.5 m
Smooth-planked, stable, the classic lake ferry for a family.
from $9 631
Flat-bottomed punt 3 m
Shallow water, ducks and quiet mornings — the simplest boat we make.
from $3 898
Restoration
Per metre of hull, after a look under the paint.
from $826 / m
Boat care
Three rules for a long life afloat.
Let her swell
A dry-stored boat leaks at first launch — give the planks two days in the water to close up. That is not a fault; that is wood.
Winter under cover
Out of the water, off the ground, under a roof that breathes. A tarp on grass is how rot starts.
Oil before grey
When the wood stops beading water, it is asking for oil. One afternoon a year keeps the hull honest.
Commission
Tell us about your water.
A quiet pond wants a different boat than a windy lake. Tell us where she will float and who will row — we will draw the right hull.