Fretwater Lines
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 [...]
Doryak 1.0 : Peekaboo
For several years now we've been talking about making the ultimate personal-sized dory--something akin to the classic SportYak that the Belknap clan popularized in the 1960s and '70s with their row-your-own river trip. "Why should the boatmen have all the fun?" they asked. SportYaks have faded from the scene, but [...]
The Season Winds Down
My traveling boatbuilding mania is over for the summer and I got to wind down with a couple great river trips in my old dory Cataract. Here's a peculiar sign as you approach Lees Ferry. I'm pretty sure the view is doing just fine. Cataract catching a little lunchtime [...]
Japanese Shinano River Boat
The obvious yin to the yang of this summer's Viking boat course would obviously be Japanese River Boat building. So it was off to Seattle after a river trip. Here's Rainier from the window of the flying machine. I drove due west and found space aliens inhabiting the Pacific Ocean. [...]
Fretwater Lines
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 [...]
Doryak 1.0 : Peekaboo
For several years now we've been talking about making the ultimate personal-sized dory--something akin to the classic SportYak that the Belknap clan popularized in the 1960s and '70s with their row-your-own river trip. "Why should the boatmen have all the fun?" they asked. SportYaks have faded from the scene, but [...]
The Season Winds Down
My traveling boatbuilding mania is over for the summer and I got to wind down with a couple great river trips in my old dory Cataract. Here's a peculiar sign as you approach Lees Ferry. I'm pretty sure the view is doing just fine. Cataract catching a little lunchtime [...]
Japanese Shinano River Boat
The obvious yin to the yang of this summer's Viking boat course would obviously be Japanese River Boat building. So it was off to Seattle after a river trip. Here's Rainier from the window of the flying machine. I drove due west and found space aliens inhabiting the Pacific Ocean. [...]