At Fretwater, it's first class all the way. Well, since Fretwater Boatworks runs all its expenses through an American Airlines credit card, we eventually get a few free treats. And a visit to the Admiral's Club. It sure beats the cacaphony of the terminal We picked up our ride in [...]

We've often prided ourselves at how much we accomplish in the boatshop, on the river, and in our travels. Well, in late August my body and mind informed me, rather abruptly, that in my 70th year I might need to take a break now and then. It was not a [...]

I'd been at a full gallop for a few years now, building boats, rowing boats, teaching boats, traveling to see more boats, and a zillion other things. I've been forgetting one important thing: taking a break. Then I broke. I went down pretty hard in mid-August and crept home with [...]

We got back to Utah in time to rig the river trip and still have enough light to take little Jiminy down to the river for a test run and rechristening. We called it a success in spite of a few issues with the motor and a few rescues. The [...]

It's been a big year for flooding in Flagstaff, and a rough year for the troll that lives under my bridge. In July he was swept away. When I returned from Maine and the Maritimes I exhumed the poor fellow Unfortunately he had lost his ceramic beer. I gave him [...]

Among the two dozen dories described in John  Gardner's seminal 1978 The Dory Book, one has always piqued my interest: The St. Pierre Working Dory. Unique to the French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, south of Newfoundland, the ""grande doris" is described as as having the "hull of an [...]

With boat school over for the year, I dropped Cricket off at the airport *sigh* and headed down the coast to Machais to visit my friend Ned. Mainers call going northeast along the coast going down east. Just cuz. I guess it's down current. When Ned was visiting us in [...]

Somehow our Doryak class at WoodenBoat School in June attracted a truly astonishing group of wonderful, talented folks. Several were veterans of early classes I've taught, and all were extremely motivated. We did what we thought was highly unlikely if not impossible: build and finish two fully decked Doryaks in [...]