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I need another boat like a hole in the head and already have my glued lap
15' Rushton pulling boat for rowing, but for years I've had an urge to build
an Adirondack guideboat.
I spent many years in my teens and early 20's living and boating in the Adirondack
mountains of New York. I was young and stupid and my boats were fiberglass. This was also at the lowest point of wooden boat building as the world turned to fiberglass.
So, back then, guideboats were few and far between and I don't know that I'd even heard of them.
Now that I've hit the age of 70 I'm starting to think that it's now or never to build one of these classics.
One of the main issues is that I feel that the Adirondack guideboat is one boat whose design and construction method must remain unchanged: feather-lap wood construction, ribs and about 3,000 brass tacks holding it together. I need
a boat that can survive bouncing along on a trailer and also be totally leak free as it will be dry stored.
As for the feather lap, in my research I've seen that some were built lap-strake and that would look OK if I went glued lapstrake. If I were to build the boat, I'd put in all the ribs for stiffness and authenticity. I would never, ever build it in strip plank/fiberglass. That method is fine for other boats but in my mind not for this classic.
I purchased a set of plans from Mystic Seaport Museum for the Warren Cole guideboat of 1905. Via a PM with the forum's guideboat guru, Chris Woodard, I was told that would be a fine boat to build.
16' long with a beam just over 3'.
The materials for the boat wouldn't be that much but authentic hardware from Shaw and Tenney would be $500, pretty much as the cost of materials for the entire boat.
Unless you fine folks can talk me down off this ledge, I just might jump and start lofting this summer.
15' Rushton pulling boat for rowing, but for years I've had an urge to build
an Adirondack guideboat.
I spent many years in my teens and early 20's living and boating in the Adirondack
mountains of New York. I was young and stupid and my boats were fiberglass. This was also at the lowest point of wooden boat building as the world turned to fiberglass.
So, back then, guideboats were few and far between and I don't know that I'd even heard of them.
Now that I've hit the age of 70 I'm starting to think that it's now or never to build one of these classics.
One of the main issues is that I feel that the Adirondack guideboat is one boat whose design and construction method must remain unchanged: feather-lap wood construction, ribs and about 3,000 brass tacks holding it together. I need
a boat that can survive bouncing along on a trailer and also be totally leak free as it will be dry stored.
As for the feather lap, in my research I've seen that some were built lap-strake and that would look OK if I went glued lapstrake. If I were to build the boat, I'd put in all the ribs for stiffness and authenticity. I would never, ever build it in strip plank/fiberglass. That method is fine for other boats but in my mind not for this classic.
I purchased a set of plans from Mystic Seaport Museum for the Warren Cole guideboat of 1905. Via a PM with the forum's guideboat guru, Chris Woodard, I was told that would be a fine boat to build.
16' long with a beam just over 3'.
The materials for the boat wouldn't be that much but authentic hardware from Shaw and Tenney would be $500, pretty much as the cost of materials for the entire boat.
Unless you fine folks can talk me down off this ledge, I just might jump and start lofting this summer.
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