New Carolina Dory Launched

A customer has been working on this 18' Carolinian for about a year and his patience and attention to detail have been richly rewarded with this beautiful example of a wooden Carolina dory boat. He recently launched it sent me these pictures:

New Stitch and Glue Boatbuilding Video

I just uploaded a new video entitled, "How To Build a Stitch And Glue Boat" to Youtube with a link on my main site, the Boatbuilding University page (Free E-Books, Videos and Articles) Be sure to check it out:

New 14' Canadian Home Built Drift Boat Completed

I just got this photo of a new, home built 14' Canadian drift boat. The builder did an excellent job:


The builder had this to say:

"Gave it a test run in a local pond yesterday. Took a minute to get the hang of it, but once comfortable I really enjoyed myself. Balance is very impressive and boat is extremely responsive. As long as you are easy on the oars it tracks well and also spins easy when needed. Stability is insane, I was a little worried because it is narrower then a lot of drift boats, but definitely a non issue. I put all of my 210 pounds to one side and didn't get much of a lean out of it.

Can't wait to get it on moving water.

I could not be happier and will buy plans from you again."

New Huntington Harbor Kayak Launched

Just got this picture of a newly launched Huntington Harbor kayak:


The builder said:

"I printed the plans for your free kayak on line, and was interested in building a wooden vessel of sorts. My goal is to build a 14-16 foot Carolina Dory to take around the harbor and out a few miles to fish here. I thought I would start small to understand the principles behind boat building.

Well I finished and launched the kayak yesterday. Needless to say it was wonderful. I received several complements on her, and she was smooth paddling in the harbor.

Now I am very confident in my understanding and ability to build my Dory. Thanks for the support."

Great job!

New Stitch & Glue Boat Plywood Cutout Guide

After receiving a few questions on how exactly to cut out the plywood for stitch and glue boats, I have developed a new free how-to guild outlining exactly how to lay out the curves for stitch and glue boat plywood panels. You can find it on my site in the Boat Building University section (Free Videos, E-Books and Reports) here: http://spirainternational.com/hp_free.html

McKenzie River Drift Boat Video

One of my customers sent me a link to this great youtube video all about wooden drift boats. It's great. Thanks Scott.

New Homebuilt Boat Photo Galleries added to Web Site

By popular demand, I've added boat photo galleries to some of the boat plans on the main web site for your viewing pleasure. I don't have enough photos of some of the boats yet, so if you've built one of my boats please send in pictures. Here are links to the new photo galleries:

http://spirainternational.com/hg_mack.html
http://spirainternational.com/hg_ozar.html
http://spirainternational.com/hg_cana.html
http://spirainternational.com/hg_yuko.html
http://spirainternational.com/hg_june.html
http://spirainternational.com/hg_glou.html
http://spirainternational.com/hg_caro.html
http://spirainternational.com/hg_hatt.html
http://spirainternational.com/hg_miss.html