Yesterday I mentioned my skin on frame Adirondack guide boats so I thought I’d dredge up a few old photos.
I built my first pair of these following the lines from the Virginia in the book the Adirondack guide boat by Kenneth and Helen Durant. My girlfriend at the time was a computer drafter so she helped to create the rib laminating forms and the rib templates, which I had made on a CNC machine at no small expense. To do it again I would probably just lay them out by hand, and build half ribs instead of continuous full ribs.
We built the frame in the traditional manner starting from the bottom board up but added stringers instead of planks. Even with the relatively simple construction though, the overall process of building a guide boat is vastly more labor-intensive and detail oriented than building anything else out of skin on frame.
The first two were 15 feet and 13 feet long and after using them extensively I decided to make the next two 14 feet, I also deepened them to 14 inches amidships, and reduced the sheer by an inch. None of this is outside the historical range and this second set of boats perfectly suited my needs, which at the time was rowing them endlessly across the bay trolling for salmon and sometimes catching them. The second boats weighed 42 pounds each.
These are such lovely watercraft and I’ve thought about making plans for how to adapt these to skin on frame, but given the work involved I just don’t think it would be popular enough to justify the time invested.
I doubt my ex-girlfriend follows my Instagram but I am endlessly appreciative for her help with this project and many others over the years.
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