Fretwater Lines
Last post before antisocial distancing
Wow. I just got home from a 15-day Grand Canyon trip to encounter the Scared New World. I should not have left y'all in charge of things when I was gone. But now that we are all locked in our little cages for the foreseeable future, it's a good time [...]
McKenzie Dory Boatbuilding class
Note: This class, and the entire season at WoodenBoat School, has been cancelled due to Covid-19. Hope to see you next year!I am excited to offer the McKenzie boat class again at WoodenBoat School in Maine this July. It's perfect for someone who really wants to build one but doesn't [...]
From small boats back to a big one
The wild jumps in scale here have been a bit mind boggling. Here's our tiny 1/6 scale Briggs dory sitting atop the 1/2-length Doryak last week. Today we have a Briggs-plus-25% coming together on the floor. More on that in a minute.The detailing on these wee boats is every bit [...]
Small boats and smaller boats
And one really big boat. Here's the speed boat that made an attempt on the Grand Canyon record this week. Six sliding seat stations, a cockpit for the steersmen, and a pad for one person to nap between shifts. Unfortunately he low flows did not allow their heroic 38-hour marathon [...]
More flash builds and product testing
Just after Thanksgiving a cluster of Martin Litton's old dory crew from the '70s and '80s gathered in southern California for his widow Esther's hundredth birthday. Esther at 100 is quite a bit sharper than I was at fifty. It was a marvelous and moving celebration. Back in [...]
Product testing
We loaded up a stack of boats in the rain and headed up to Utah for recess. We also wanted to see what Peekaboo would do.We headed down the old San Juan that afternoon. There were just four of us, so we could only row four boats.Peekaboo and Bernie were [...]
Peekaboo finale
Note to frustrated blog followers who tell me I should post a bit more often--I do put up somewhat more regular snippets on Instagram. If you're into that sort of stuff, you can follow them at: fretwaterboatworks Or just do a google search for #fretwaterboatworks Anyhow... Upon returning from our [...]
Day of the Dead
Grand Canyon River Guides, our nonprofit gang of boatfolk and fans, has two gatherings each year: the multi-day Guide Training Seminar at Marble Canyon, and a fall meet somewhere. This year it was at my boat shop. It was originally going to be on November 1, the Day of the [...]
Fretwater Lines
Last post before antisocial distancing
Wow. I just got home from a 15-day Grand Canyon trip to encounter the Scared New World. I should not have left y'all in charge of things when I was gone. But now that we are all locked in our little cages for the foreseeable future, it's a good time [...]
McKenzie Dory Boatbuilding class
Note: This class, and the entire season at WoodenBoat School, has been cancelled due to Covid-19. Hope to see you next year!I am excited to offer the McKenzie boat class again at WoodenBoat School in Maine this July. It's perfect for someone who really wants to build one but doesn't [...]
From small boats back to a big one
The wild jumps in scale here have been a bit mind boggling. Here's our tiny 1/6 scale Briggs dory sitting atop the 1/2-length Doryak last week. Today we have a Briggs-plus-25% coming together on the floor. More on that in a minute.The detailing on these wee boats is every bit [...]
Small boats and smaller boats
And one really big boat. Here's the speed boat that made an attempt on the Grand Canyon record this week. Six sliding seat stations, a cockpit for the steersmen, and a pad for one person to nap between shifts. Unfortunately he low flows did not allow their heroic 38-hour marathon [...]
More flash builds and product testing
Just after Thanksgiving a cluster of Martin Litton's old dory crew from the '70s and '80s gathered in southern California for his widow Esther's hundredth birthday. Esther at 100 is quite a bit sharper than I was at fifty. It was a marvelous and moving celebration. Back in [...]
Product testing
We loaded up a stack of boats in the rain and headed up to Utah for recess. We also wanted to see what Peekaboo would do.We headed down the old San Juan that afternoon. There were just four of us, so we could only row four boats.Peekaboo and Bernie were [...]
Peekaboo finale
Note to frustrated blog followers who tell me I should post a bit more often--I do put up somewhat more regular snippets on Instagram. If you're into that sort of stuff, you can follow them at: fretwaterboatworks Or just do a google search for #fretwaterboatworks Anyhow... Upon returning from our [...]
Day of the Dead
Grand Canyon River Guides, our nonprofit gang of boatfolk and fans, has two gatherings each year: the multi-day Guide Training Seminar at Marble Canyon, and a fall meet somewhere. This year it was at my boat shop. It was originally going to be on November 1, the Day of the [...]