Category Archives: Boat Construction

stand-up paddleboards complete

Building CLC Stand-Up Paddleboards

By Bruce Niederer — Retired GBI Technical Advisor

Helping my brother Nelson build two Chesapeake Light Craft (CLC) stand-up paddleboards was one of the first projects I started after retiring.  We were building them for the best kind of friend—the paying kind. I guess I’m one of those guys who finds retirement much busier than work. In fact, I wonder how I ever found time to work. Continue reading

A cedar strip canoe by Kurt Mangseth.

Readers’ Projects, Issue 53

This cedar strip canoe (top) was laminated with WEST SYSTEM® 105 Resin®/207 Special Clear Hardener®. It is the work of Kurt Mangseth of Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Continue reading

Obsession fulfilling its purpose, charging down the rapids.

Oh, the Places You’ll Go…

in a Wooden Boat

By Greg Hatten

I was anxious the first time I took my handcrafted McKenzie-style drift boat to The Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend, Washington. Realizing that boat builders and woodworkers with discerning eyes would be inspecting the construction details of my boat over the course of four days was almost reason enough for me to create a “change of plans” and not go. Continue reading

Stormy Weather, an East Coast 32 designed by Dovell Naval Architects and built by Denman Marine.

Stormy Weather

By Lorraine Murray — ATL Composites

Denman Marine in Kettering, Tasmania built and recently launched Stormy Weather, an East Coast 32. Renowned naval architect Andy Dovell designed the boat primarily as a day boat but included accommodations for overnights at harbor or short coastal cruising in good weather. She features traditional styling including a plumb stem and curved, raked transom. The Western Red Cedar strip hull is constructed with modern materials including multiaxial E-glass and WEST SYSTEM® Epoxy, resulting in a strong, lightweight, and easily handled boat. Continue reading

The Globe Mini 5.80 is a boat in a box.

Boat in a Box

The Globe Mini 5.80

By ATL Composites

The compact offshore racing boat known as the Globe Mini 5.80 is the brainchild of adventurer and sailing legend, Don McIntyre. This boat design is taking off all over the world in the form of a DIY kit constructed with plywood and WEST SYSTEM® Epoxy. Continue reading

Unlimited canoe, completed

Unlimited Canoe

By Donald Weir

Most of the projects featured in Epoxyworks are neat and have a high level of finish. For a creation that will be put in the ocean and beat on with sticks, that seemed too high of a standard. When building the Unlimited Canoe, we instead opted for durability and fast construction, not to mention cheap. Continue reading

Row boat by Joshua Rouch

Readers’ Projects, Issue 52

Wooden rowboat (featured image, above) by Joshua Rouch.

Buster Welch’s Boats & Furniture

Buster Welch of Clandeboye, Manitoba, Canada has had extensive experience with epoxy. He began with building a cedar strip canoe in 1973 after seeing one of Ted Moores’s (Bear Mountain Boats) on display at the Toronto Boat Show.

Strip canoe by Buster Welch

Strip canoe built inspired by Ted Moores and built by Buster Welch.

Continue reading

Jon Staudacher’s Approach to Projects

By Don Gutzmer – GBI Technical Advisor

Cover photo: THE ANIMAL alongside one of Jon Staudacher’s other projects, an acrobatic airplane. Photo by Avram Golden.

My good friend and previous employer, Jon Staudacher, always surprises me with how he designs and builds his projects. Jon creates everything from hydroplanes to airplanes using materials and methods that are logical and practical. He would say he treats most of the things he builds like a science project, experimenting with new concepts in design and materials, and continually learning new things. I will explain some of Jon’s unique approaches to a few of his recent projects. Continue reading

Jan Gougeon Survived FLICKA's capsize in the Atlantic Ocean in 1979.

Surviving FLICKA’s Capsize, Part 2

By Grace Ombry

On June 20, 1979, while sailing in a qualifying race for the OSTAR (Original Single-Handed Transatlantic Race), Jan Gougeon’s self-designed and built 31′ trimaran FLICKA was capsized by heavy seas in the North Atlantic. Jan survived on the overturned plywood/epoxy multihull for four days before he was rescued by a passing freighter. The following is the second half of a transcript of a phone call between Jan, his brothers Meade and Joel, as well as fellow multihull designer/sailor Mike Zuteck. Their discussion takes place on June 26, 1979, just hours after the freighter that rescued Jan delivered him to dry land. Part 1 of this conversation can be found here. Continue reading

One proud kid, as well he should be.

River Hornet

A MiniMax Hydroplane

By Jeffrey Carpenter
Epoxyworks 50 Cover

Cover Photo: Joshua and his Minimax Hydroplane

In late 2018, my son and I were given a unique opportunity by the Michigan-based Water Wonderland Chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society (ACBS) to build an 8′ MiniMax hydroplane based on original plans from the early 1960s. Almost anything from that era seems to be popular again. Maybe it’s nostalgia or maybe the designs of that groundbreaking decade were just ahead of their time. Either way, the MiniMax’s appeal seems as relevant today as it did in 1962. We accepted the challenge without hesitation. Continue reading