Fretwater Lines
Fall Class: Building Jerry Briggs’s Rogue River Special –at Lowell’s Boat Shop
Building the Rogue River Special November 11-16 Lowell's Boat Shop Amesbury, Massachusetts The river season is winding down and the winter boatbuilding and teaching season is on the horizon. This November we are delighted to be teaching another class at the amazing historic Lowell'sBoat Shop in Amesbury, Massachusetts. In this [...]
Building the Chub
We had one day off which we spent recuperating. Then it was back to the drawing board for a two-week class building the whitewater boat we call the Chub. This time I was the nominal teacher with Cricket as my assistant. But actually we just co-teach. Neither of us wants [...]
Professor Cricket teaches McKenzies
Cricket taught her first class this spring--a six-day course in building the McKenzie River drift boat, or dory. I got to be helper boy, which was delightful. We started in the first night with lofting the lines from Roger Fletcher's book, Drift Boats and River Dories. Once the class agreed [...]
How the Old Fella Done It
Warning-- long post. But a good story. In late May Cricket and I headed out to do one of our favorite things--go to Maine and the Maritimes. But it always starts out with our least favorite thing--flying on an airplane. Fortunately fate had pity and awarded us an upgrade on [...]
Rooting for More Roots
A full day passed after we got off the Guide Training trip in Grand Canyon before we were rolling north at first light. We felt so rested. If I recall correctly, Nevada looks like this. The brothels are in disarray. We holed up in Klamath Falls for the night, then [...]
Springtime at Fretwater
Once again months have sped by while I sit idle, not blogging. Well, actually, not entirely idle. I am finally catching my breath after a multi-month sprint. Let's see--it was February last time I checked in. We had to pause and celebrate our patron saint's birthday. But I did my [...]
Help Fund the Dory Heritage Project
In late May Cricket and I will join Graham McKay, Executive Director of Lowell's Boat Shop, and Douglas Brooks, renown documenter and builder of traditional Japanese boats, in Shelburne Nova Scotia. We will spend the next two weeks working with Milford Buchanan, the last builder of the iconic Shelburne Dory. [...]
Looking Good
Time flies. And it's way past time to update the blog. I'll start with sharing this exciting photo. The inside of my eyeballs are doing fine--don't they look great? Here are some shots of what they get to see as I sip my morning coffee. We had a magnificent series [...]
Fretwater Lines
Fall Class: Building Jerry Briggs’s Rogue River Special –at Lowell’s Boat Shop
Building the Rogue River Special November 11-16 Lowell's Boat Shop Amesbury, Massachusetts The river season is winding down and the winter boatbuilding and teaching season is on the horizon. This November we are delighted to be teaching another class at the amazing historic Lowell'sBoat Shop in Amesbury, Massachusetts. In this [...]
Building the Chub
We had one day off which we spent recuperating. Then it was back to the drawing board for a two-week class building the whitewater boat we call the Chub. This time I was the nominal teacher with Cricket as my assistant. But actually we just co-teach. Neither of us wants [...]
Professor Cricket teaches McKenzies
Cricket taught her first class this spring--a six-day course in building the McKenzie River drift boat, or dory. I got to be helper boy, which was delightful. We started in the first night with lofting the lines from Roger Fletcher's book, Drift Boats and River Dories. Once the class agreed [...]
How the Old Fella Done It
Warning-- long post. But a good story. In late May Cricket and I headed out to do one of our favorite things--go to Maine and the Maritimes. But it always starts out with our least favorite thing--flying on an airplane. Fortunately fate had pity and awarded us an upgrade on [...]
Rooting for More Roots
A full day passed after we got off the Guide Training trip in Grand Canyon before we were rolling north at first light. We felt so rested. If I recall correctly, Nevada looks like this. The brothels are in disarray. We holed up in Klamath Falls for the night, then [...]
Springtime at Fretwater
Once again months have sped by while I sit idle, not blogging. Well, actually, not entirely idle. I am finally catching my breath after a multi-month sprint. Let's see--it was February last time I checked in. We had to pause and celebrate our patron saint's birthday. But I did my [...]
Help Fund the Dory Heritage Project
In late May Cricket and I will join Graham McKay, Executive Director of Lowell's Boat Shop, and Douglas Brooks, renown documenter and builder of traditional Japanese boats, in Shelburne Nova Scotia. We will spend the next two weeks working with Milford Buchanan, the last builder of the iconic Shelburne Dory. [...]
Looking Good
Time flies. And it's way past time to update the blog. I'll start with sharing this exciting photo. The inside of my eyeballs are doing fine--don't they look great? Here are some shots of what they get to see as I sip my morning coffee. We had a magnificent series [...]