Adirondack Guide Boat Plans

Every now and then you come across a boat design that is difficult to capture in words.

The 16' Adirondack Guide Boat is such a design. I first became interested in this boat when I saw and older gentleman rowing his guide boat among the ducks of Buttermilk Bay. Somehow the boat seemed to belong in that setting. Each stroke he took with the oars seemed to propel him without effort, quietly skimming across the surface of the chop and amongst the birds. As I am sure you can understand, I could not let an opportunity to talk to this man pass me by. I paddled my canoe over to learn he had owned his guide boat for most of his adult life and used it regularly to row the waters of Buttermilk Bay.

The Adirondack Guide Boat has actually been around for some time. Designed out of necessity by north woodsmen in the Adirondack section of New York, this boat can be traced back as far as the mid to late 1800's, in its current design.

I have to admit that I was more than a little concerned about redesigning this boat for modern materials and building her. The guide boat is full of curves. But this boat was a delight to build. Everything fit into place with a minimum of fuss and I found this boat to be no more difficult to build than a basic canoe like the "Little Rob".

As for its rowing capabilities, it is fast, straight and stable. It is simply a dream to row, and just as easy to transport.

I love this boat and you will too !

I recommend that you consider purchasing the DVD along with the full size patterns and plans. This boat has a very curved hull design. Although I do not have a video specifically for this boat, the "Little Rob" video will cover every detail with the exception of the bottom plank. That detail will be covered in the accompanying construction guide.

As with most of our boats, we strongly recomend getting video series that accompanies this boat. For this boat it is the Rob Roy series. Any part of the build process which is not detailed in the video series is detailed in the plans and included build booklet.