Hi Jack,

Hope all is well. 
I finally finished the boat. We enjoy it a lot, rowing every weekend. Get stopped by everyone complimenting on the work. Thanks for all the help. 

Ed Vickery

Jack,

Well in the water, only took four years. I could not have asked for a better day.

I Can't row for squat, had ring ore locks, which did not work well at all. Hope Santa will bring me better ones that will rotate up and down like the real ones, that I can't afford until I learn to row in a manor that wart's the real ones.

I made built it all, Boat, ores, seats, Cedar, Cyprus, Curly Maple, and Cherry.

Thank You for your help in this wonderful project.

Ron Moody Mansfield Texas

Can't tell you how happy I am jack with the adventure, even with my mistakes that you corrected.

At this point the outside hull has it its final sanding to 220, but no fiberglass or epoxy, nor had I put on the outer stems. I had to return the orbital sander before departing so I sanded recognizing when I do the outer stems touch up will be required. The canoe is covered and its in the garage as you saw it's location.

Again, you are excellent at customer satisfaction and I am forever indebted.

I plan to post various pictures.

Dave

Hi Jack,

Just wanted to share a few photos of the runabout I just completed. It took 8 months of afternoon and weekends to finish. She runs like a dream.

The stares and comments are unbelievable. People think she is 50 year old. I think she turned out pretty good for a first timer.

Thanks for the great plans.

Matt
North Carolina

Jack

Attached are a couple of pictures of the completed canoe. Lighting is the best,and looks good. I'll build another for my wife, and I've gotten a couple of requests to build others for friends and relatives. I may have already told you, but I squared the ends of the decks instead of curving them. I'd given myself a deadline and didn't have time to work the curve. Next boat gets the curve.

I'll likely be back in touch when I start the next one.

John

Hello Jack,

Here are some launch pictures and "maiden voyage" pictures. There are also a few shots of me bailing the boat full of water trying to sink her...cannot do it...no way...impossible to sink this boat. When I filled it full of water and got in it just flipped up on its side and popped up with less water in it. Then you just roll back into it. 

This boat is fast and straight as advertised. I haven't been able to give it a good go for any length of time yet because the doctor says I need surgery on my shoulder. Hope to GPS check the speed someday when I can borrow or afford to buy one.

Going to take her to Florida in early July on the St. Johns River and on the Tomoko River and bay (tidal waters). I'll send you some pictures of the trips. She stops traffic, literally. I left her on my truck on the side of the road and when I came back, two guys had pulled their truck over to look her over. Three guys came up to her while I was at a campground on the St. Mary's River. All along the river other boats slowed down and went "Wow". I love the boat.

Thanks, Joe

Blackshear GA

Hi Jack

We launched her! We had a raffle and raised $2800 and got some new power tools for the shop if you want some more pic. i think i could forward them to you
Thanks again for all the help the kids and I had fun building it.
Mark Webster

Hello Jack

Had the shake down cruise today for the Adirondack Guide Boat.  This boat cuts through the water real nice and rows very good.
I used 6.5 foot oars, don't know how she would handle with bigger oars and there was no problem, whatsoever, taking on boat wakes tracks extremely well through the water on a straight line and is well balanced.
I was able to scoot around a little bit without too much rocking, and getting into and out was no problem, must place foot on center floor board to maintain balance when entering or exiting the boat.

I received lots of compliments. Thanks again for the great plans and DVD. 

Rodney Brown
Illinois

Hello Jack,

Made a seat today. As you can see from the pics this boat is just about finished. Once I get all the trim parts mounted it will be time for the final sanding and some varnish.

I'm very pleased at this point. Hope all goes well with the glassing effort....and I am happy with the alternating strips bottom (see pics). Take care and thanks for your great assistance.

Thanks, ...... It's been a great project Joe

Hi Jack

Another build complete, number 3. Built outside in not so sunny UK. I used pine and idigbo [african hardwood] for this one. The picture was taken on the shore of bala lake in wales, at the first launch.

John Clutton
Telford Shropshire
United Kingdom

Dear Jack

I have finished the canoe in September lost year but it was to cold for the varnish so i wait for may this year i enjoy the whole building and canoeing is very much of fun thanks for your help and advice maybe you can put my pictures on you site

best regards Cornelis Hage from the Netherlands

Dear Jack

Enjoyed your letter, you sound like a very busy man !!! 
We're very happy with the boat --of course, we don't have a lot of experience to compare it with, but that makes us feel it must be a very good plan, if greenhorns like us can handle it easily. We've not noticed any flex, we're thinking that might be because of the seat bases, two bulkheads under each seat, sealed and watertight, as well as the thwarts, We can actually seat eight people !

We have two layers of 7 oz. fiberglass and epoxy on the inside as well as the outside of the bottom, do we also need Kevlar? we're not sure how flex would present itself. What sort of thing would we look for ? We've found it to be very stable, easy to handle, even in choppy water, and even some of our friends who aren't really "water" people really enjoyed the experience, and felt safe and comfortable.

He's really wanting to get building again ! 

Regards, Dave and Lorraine

Hi Jack;

Bruce here here are some pictures of the canoe .

I want to thank you for all your help! It came out beautiful and i appreciate all your support .

My friend and i went to the lake, had the day off of work. the canoe looked and was awesome in the lake no leaks. it went very well.we were out for a couple of hours . then i went to show another canoe friend.

Thank you. Bye for now and thank's again for all your help.

Bruce Webber
Ventura CA 93003

Prospector Canoe building project by John Oneil

Hi Jack.

Not sure if you remember but Bruce Johnston and I purchased your plans for a prospector canoe late in 2009. Since then we have built two canoes, one each. It was an amazing journey and we had a lot of fun building them.

Thankyou for your guidance on some of the questions we asked you as we were going along.

Jason Dickens

HOD Outdoor Education
Physical Education

Hello !

The canoe is finally finished. I spent approximately 4 months building this canoe. Finally, the canoe gets wet!

lp Aleksander Schulz
SLOVENIJA

Hi, Jack,

Just to let you know a success story. I had a lot of fun building this canoe and when it warms up, I'll have some fun paddling it too. Your videos and directions were great, and invaluable. I couldn't have done it without going back and watching the videos several times.

It took me 3 months, but I was out of town more than half of that, so not too bad. I'd love to build another one and perfect the skills I learned. Maybe I can sell this one! 

Thanks,

Bradley Byrd,
Seattle, WA

Hello Jack,

In the summer 2007 I purchased and built your canoe Prospector. The strip planking is hand painted in Siberian larch, Gunwale is made from Mahogany and the thwarts are also of Mahogany. The oars are from Cherry and larva, ornaments in nut tree, pictures on Bow and star.
Enclosed pictures of the execution.

Best Regards,
Franz Miklautz
Germany München

Hi Jack,

Here are some pictures of the canoe that my daughter, Allison, and I built from your "Prospector" plans and DVD in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. This is the first canoe that I've built and the DVD helped a lot; it helped me understand how to loft the plans and some of the crucial steps and how to take them on correctly. 

Our canoe is primarily made of Jersey White Cedar strips, with Black Walnut gunwales and decks. It has red oak stems and white oak seats. We were originally going to make the center strip a double bead strip of white cedar on the top, but we decided to put a low, Vertical Grain, Douglas Fir keel in instead. We chose to use the Jersey White Cedar (first because it is a great boat wood), but also because it was stripped from cedar boards that my father had left over from a sail boat that he built years ago, so this canoe has some sentimental value to it as well.

We really enjoyed building this even though it did present some challenges along the way.  This was a fun project and we hope to build another canoe soon.

Thanks so much for the great plans and DVD! 

Eric Gable

The Lassy's recently took a trip up the Chewalla Creek that feeds Lake Walter F. George, one of the largest reservoirs in southeast AL and big bass fishing tournament lake. Here are a few pics. The photos of the nondescript muddy stuff are alligator footprints and mud slides where they slide down into the water from their sunning spot. We didn't see any actual alligators or snakes, but we did have our .38 pistol just in case.

We paddled for over three hours up and back the muddy water creek until it became so shallow and narrow that we couldn't go much further. Since our canoe is a river prospector design it was made for carrying heavy loads. All four of us, 2 adults, 2 tweens, fit comfortably and had great stability. We estimated our combined body weight was 640 lbs. and maybe another 20 pounds in gear.
What an awesome time we had especially when we consider that this canoe is something that we made ourselves! The looks that we get while driving and compliments when we stop somewhere are really gratifying and made all of the hard work worth it. Our prospector canoe is priceless to us and we wouldn't sell it for any amount.

- David
Alabama

Hello Jack,

As you can see it turned out great. It was a very gratifying day when I first launched and saw how well it sat in the water. My wife, three kids and parents were all there to witness the event the boat was given the name “Timeless Pleasure.”

I came across the instructional video from you guys. When I received the video I new then that this was what I needed to help me take on this project. The rest is history.

I performed every step from scratch for this project. I drafted the lines plans (which by the way is similar to a Prospector but does have some differences); lofted the plans to molds; cut my own strips from cedar decking and created a jig to provide the bead and cove to the strips; cut and shaped the yoke from 1”x6” walnut; created the seats from maple and teak; laminated the breast plates from maple and oak; created the gunwales from oak.

When I was trying to decide how and what I was going to make the seats from my wife said “If you are planning on throwing out the old barbecue why don’t you use the teak wood from the barbecue stand.” I thought about this for a while because I didn’t know if I could clean the wood which was stained from grease, sauces, etc. over the years, but I decide to give it a try. 

Thanks for the Great DVD, plans and all your help.

Darell Hynes

Hi Jack,

Thanks for the 18 foot strips. After scarfing one joint on a twist, I surely didn't want to continue that!
Just an update for you. I bought an old house to rent out and look what I found in the cupboard.
I used a stanley electric staple gun and set the pressure to leave the staples out a bit. They pop out like butter.

By the way, I have a log of my time if you're interested. 35 hours to this point, not counting the hours of watching the videos and eating ice cream!

Jack-

After many interruptions, two trips to central Asia, a million visitors I finally finished and launched my canoe. Your DVD was terrific and I don't think that I could have done it without it. 
I liked the little slotted strip holder that you used to glue up your strips. One suggestion - I had all of my strips on a rack hanging from the ceiling over the forms and attached the strip holder directly to the side of the strongback. This limited the distance that I had to move the strips and made the gluing process simple. You may have done this also, though I couldn't tell from the DVD.

I had some walnut and cherry in my shop from my furniture projects and used the walnut for the gunnels and both for the decks. It came out sweet!

Thanks,

John Copenhaver

Hi Jack,
Thought you would like a picture from the maiden voyage. Thanks again for all of your assistance while on the journey. 
I REALLY appreciated it.
Ron

Hi Jack,
So here it is … I had the boat survey done last Saturday and it came in at $39,200 and the insurance company accepted the appraisal. Who would have thought that $15,000 in materials would become almost a forty thousand dollar boat. Thanks for all your help! We were going to put it in for the first time yesterday but it rained most of the day … later this week perhaps. Attached are a few pics I took this morning.
Cheers,
Johnny

*****UPDATE****
Hi Jack …
Been having fun with the boat … Below there is a video my son-in-law made of the boat being launched etc.
Cheers,
Johnny

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjFvwYJUNTo&feature=youtu.be

The dvd of building the little Rob is now the most watched dvd in our house especially by me. The weather here has been quite prohibiting to anything but shoveling snow we've had 75" so far and are expecting 10" more this week coupled with -10 and -15 degrees with up to 30 miles per wind and it has been just awful I Do have the bottom completely stripped and the staples are pulled.

It looks just absolutely beautiful. A guy from a local canoe and kayak shop came out and I helped him apply the first coat of epoxy today. I'll apply the second coat and Saturday or Sunday the finish coat. Next week the forms come off.

Just got our higher speed internet and with it comes a new account and address. Attached is pictures of my finished project that I worked on this past winter.
My sister painted the pictures and the theme is that when I'm in my canoe there will never be a cloudy day.

Rodney Bethel
Wisconsin

Had a lot of fun building canoe. Lots of complements on it. 
My grandson enjoys riding in it with me. I am planning on building the Billington this winter.
Thanks, Paul Stewart

Hello Jack!
Have just ordered the plans for the Minnie Mo,

We're attaching a photo of the one he just completed, complete with backrests and double paddles to match. He really enjoyed the "journey" and can't wait to embark on the next one!!

Your plans are very easy to follow, and obviously well designed.

Thanks again, 
Lorraine Klassen

Jack,
Just thought I’d send along some pictures of my Little Rob maiden voyage. My daughter and I paddled around a nature preserve in Virginia near the mouth of the Chesapeake. The boat was able to carry two people surprisingly well. Thanks for your support and encouragement getting started on this project. 
-Joe

Hi Jack,

Thanks for all of your help on this journey that I have partaken in and it was definitely a very, very long journey. From the beginning I was totally unsure of myself in this particular boat. I have built 4 cedar strip canoes and 2 kayaks. I am enclosing a photo of these.

Here are the pictures of the runabout built from the plans that I had purchased from you. Some of these are redundant, however please look through all of them and tell me what you think. Please pay particular attention to the photos in my garage. This is what i had to go through every time I wanted to work on my boat. If anyone says, they do not have room in their garage, they are badly mistaken, please email this picture to them.

I sincerely hope I did not waste your time with all my questions. I have enjoyed working on this boat, and although it was frustrating at times, it was well worth it in the end. If anyone in my area would like to see my boat in person, please give them my number. I am located in central Florida (one hour east of Orlando). Also if you would like to post any of these pictures, feel free to do so.

Thanks for all your help.
Sincerely,

Gary Miserendino

Little Rob is finished and it is perfect and the plans were A-1.

Dale-Smith-Little-Rob-CanoeI was to a canoe rally today....40 other canoes and kayaks took part and little rob turned many heads and a lot of questions were asked.....where did i get it and who built it...ha ha! some people told me it was too nice to put in the water and that i should put it in my living room.

I have enjoyed the project and thinking about another one maybe a prospector.my photos and comments to you are yours to do whatever you want.thank-you very much for your help and lets keep in touch.

H Dale Smith
Baerrington Passage NS
CA Canada

Good Morning Jack,

I can't count how many staff members I have referred to your website after they saw this boat. We are planning to raffle this boat off to our staff when it was finished. I would love to put a "Designed by Sandy point" Plaque in it, if that is ok with you. 
Thank you so much for putting together a product that is easy enough for a bunch of amateurs to make a beautiful boat. 

Caleb Moore

Hi Jack.
Here are some pics of Companion at play in Pass Lake, WA. Me and my boy Nathaniel using her. My daughter Chelsea took the pics with her Canon. 

The three of us went around the lake on Monday. She is working out just dandy.

Thanks again, Scott.
Scott Stoppelman
LaConner, WA

GOOD MORNING JACK.
I AM GOING TO SEND YOU SOME PICTURES OF NO #4. BEAUTIFUL DAY IN INDIANA
I AM NOT A VERY GOOD PHOTOGRAPHER. 
BUT I WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU FOR INSPIRING ME TO BUILD THESE.
GOD BLESS YOU .. RAY

Hi Jack,

Attached are a couple of pictures of my canoe that I built in 2009. It shouldn't be too difficult for anyone in the republic of Ireland to source the materials to build the canoe. I am based in county Kerry in the south of Ireland. Most towns would have a builders merchants/providers store which sells wood and tools. They might not have a wide selection of wood but its a good place to start and they would point the customer to the nearest timber dealers. I was able to buy the cedar and ash from a company called Brooks in County Kerry. 
Brooks Tralee, Clash Industrial Estate, Tralee, County Kerry is the full address. They also have another store in Moydrum Road, Athlone, Co. Westmeath.

For the fibre glass and epoxy i had to travel to county cork. The address of the shop is Glassfibre and Resin Supplies Limited, Rose Hill, Ballinacurra, Midleton, Co. Cork, Ireland +353 21 4631711.

If I can be of any further assistance you can email me. I really enjoyed building this canoe. I think a little more information about the relief strip on the dvd would have been of great benefit in the building process. Am delighted with final results .

Hope this information will be of benefit to you, Kind Regards,

Joseph O' Connell

I finally finished the Companion Canoe. It took about 17 months including tons of time when I did nothing. Hopefully next weekend we'll try to paddle in one of our nearby lakes. If things go well, I'll start making some good paddles. 

We've been out in the boat twice and everything went well. Just for the heck of it, I named it, "Companion Drake".  These pictures are all legitimate. After looking at some of them, I'm not sure any sane person would believe it but it's true. Next week I hope to epoxy the inside and then fiberglass the following week.

Best wishes from Coos County, Oregon
John Barney

Hi Jack,
My name is Jeff Hanson from Lansing, Michigan. Last spring I purchased the Companion canoe plans from you and I'd like to show you our completed project. It was our first boat project and I hope to do another one in the near future.
Thanks,
Jeff Hanson
Lansing MI

FINALLY finished the strips this afternoon, wow, those last few were a job! It took a considerable amount of time to cut each end of each of the strips but it was well worth it. The bottom looks really good.
I spent about an hour or two with the sure forms tonight, smoothing down the outside of one side of the boat, those things ROCK!

Take care,

Chuck

Hello Jack,
I saw from your website that people send their pictures about the canoes that they have built. I decided to also give you some feedback.

Some numbers:
The building process took me around 245 hours and I mostly used my evenings after work. I used a woodworking classroom in the school where my parents work. Access to all the tools made the work much easier. I had all the tools that you used in the video and in addition some more useful stuff.
The budget with drawings and some additional tools (router bits etc) is under 800€. Of course there was some significant trial and error testing that added some unnecessary cost but that's ok.
The hull is made out of larch and all additional stuff is made out of white ash. Cedar is unfortunately not available around here.

I think larch looks just as good ... bit more yellow but I like it.  Anyway, thanks a lot. It has been unforgettable journey and I will definitely make another canoe soon.

I have to admit that once I got on the water, I felt that its not as as fun to own a canoe as it is to make one :). I mean it's cool to paddle around a small lake or river but it's not as good feeling as it is to sit in a workshop and watch a newly born canoe and feel the satisfaction. :)

Thanks for providing me this journey!

All the best from Estonia.

Eero Valge

Hi Jack,

It's well over two years since I purchased Bay Hawk Duet plans from you, and it's almost two years since I began by building dollies to hold the strong back. I'm pleased to tell you that I finished the build a couple of weeks ago and was able to launch the canoe before the cold weather really sets in. Some pictures are attached and I have many others if you are interested in them.

I like the aesthetics of the Duet very much.  A variety of techniques were tried to achieve staple-less construction. Instead of deck hatches I put plastic, locking deck plates in the bulk heads to preserve the clean appearance. Along the same lines the outer gunwales and the gunwale caps were tapered over the last 4 ft at bow and stern. Eyes were added to take lines and/or handling straps when necessary.

Thank you again for your advice at the beginning of my project and for providing clear and useful instruction via the plans and DVDs.

Best regards

Tony Myers

Dear Jack:

Here are the pictures of the Bayhawk Duet I told you I'd send. As you can see, at least it is beginning to look like a boat! It's far from perfect but I can live with what mistakes I've made so far.

I hope to have the boat done for some Fall paddling in Southern California but obviously I have a ways to go. The epoxy wet-out coat on the outside is my next major step and it will be a challenge with the hot weather we've been having. The dreaded sanding of the interior is facing me soon!

Thanks for your support and advice as I work on this interesting project.
Gary Johnpeer

Hi Jack

I hope you like the pictures of the bay Hawk iI just completed. The wood is cedar and pine.The pine is sourced from local timber yards. The cedar is a bit more difficult to get although there are a few supplierrs in Dublin (abbey Woods.com ). I buy epoxy and fiber glass from england (aeast coast fiberglass.co.uk ). There is acompany in England called Robbins Timber and they supply cedar strip, but it is expensive. I machine my own timber.

At a recent outing on my local lake there was a lot of interest in the canoe so I will call you to talk about a licence 

Regards 
Paul Walsh

Hey Jack,

I requested to be your friend on Facebook. I have 30+ pictures of the building process. feel free to check them out. they are all under the album of "the boat"

Take care.
Aaron

Jack,

Finally finished the canoe a couple of weeks ago and launched it over the weekend.

I have attached a couple of pictures of the final product.

Thanks again.. I may build another next year.

Chip

Raymond Wood Prospector Canoe building project.

Hi Jack 

I have done the boat and I am over the moon with it . i would like to thank you for your help and hope to do a sneak boat next year! here are some photos for you 

many thanks again 
Scott Chard

Jack,

Just thought I would send you some photos. I finally got a chance to test the boat out. I used a 6hp motor from a friend, I really couldn't imagine having anything larger, this seemed to go plenty fast. Again, thank you for your help throughout the process.

Drew Liljedahl

Jack, I realize it took a while . . . but, you know the fun is in the building.

On January 12th of this year, on a beautiful winter's day (sunny and 75 degrees) in Phoenix, AZ, I launched my Bayhawk into the Tempe Town Lake. The paddle is my first attempt (no plans), and it seemed to work pretty well, also.

Thanks for the great plans. I will probably start another one this spring.

Jeanne took this picture while we were in Prescott last week. It says it all . . . so thought I would share it.

Hope you had a wonderful Labor Day weekend, too.
Jimmytheflyboy

She's done and I am very happy with the freighter.  Love the way the transome turned out.  Using a small engine and it pushes it long fine.

Thanks for all the help.

Best Regards,

Rick

Well here's the pictures of the finished boat. I still look at it and can't believe that i built this. thanks for all the help. jack do you have any plans for kayaks.

Charles Hampton 

A Minimost hydroplane by George Bousman

Hello Jack,

It looks like that might be my best cruising speed...somewhere between 2500 and 2700. I don't have a definitive number for the power loss due to density altitude, but I know it is at least 15%. I will be using less than 40 bhp, and fuel consumption less than 1 gal/hr with this little BMW D-50. The finished weight came in at 5740 lb...not bad for a 30' boat!

It looks like I might be a half-knot slower than hull speed, so I'll keep looking for the 18" prop. My LWL is about 27'. I've documented everything I did to the boat, and will gladly share.

Regards,

Bob

Zach and I love the canoe and everyone cannot believe that we built it together.  

The canoe performs great and the canoe plans were easy to follow along with that great DVD.  I have a picture on my desk at work that so that I can brag about it.

Thanks for a memory that will last forever with both Zach and I.

John Tricket

Hi, I am originally for South Africa and I built the Canoe while living in the Cotswolds in the United Kingdom a few years ago.  I was able to get 6m planks from the Yew tree. I also felled a old Ash tree in the garden which was growing on an old railway line that pasted through the property, the railway line was used during the war to transport the solders.

My workshop at the time was the Old Pound House which was used by the Rector of the village in impound livestock for villagers who had outstanding taxes due. It was still in its original condition with stone floors and walls and a slate roof - it was my getaway place to build my dream Canoe.

It took over a year to build the canoe, on weekends and in the evenings, and still looks brand new 4 years later. I am now living back in South Africa and bought my dream Canoe back with me to South Africa on a shipping container from the United Kingdom when I left.

Thank you for helping me create something that I have always dreamed of doing. Its has opened up a whole new journey for me ...

Hi Jack,

I finished my Sebago about 2 weeks ago. It turned out really well. I really like the scuppered gunnels and the quilted maple caps. I attached a good finished picture for your picture forum.

Now my boys want us to build a hydro! Do you have a video for that project too and do you recommend it?

Bert

I also have a good photo chronology of the construction if you are interested….

Kirk Lewellen ><(((">
Wellcraft Marine

Hello Jack,

I am a member of duck hunting chat and posted the entire process out there on a thread, fair amount of comments. Also documented the construction on a varmint hunting website I go to, got alot of comments from there. 

On both sites I plugged you, so hopefully you got some orders out of it. The photo of Brian in the fog is currently in a couple photo contests relating to duck hunting, hoping to win something.
Let me know when the website is finish.

Thanks for the great Duck Boat Plans

Take care.
Andrew Holly

Hi Jack,

The prospector went for its maiden voyage today. I do believe that I will have to lower the seats some to gain a little stability, but otherwise I love it. Thanks for all your help.

Mark Becker Rochester NY

Hi Jack,

A big thank you for your help in building my first canoe. Your DVD is worn out! the most played in my collection!! Two things you said stuck in my mind when building, "enjoy the journey" and "be creative". Well, I did both! Building my first canoe has been one of the most enjoyable projects I have ever done.

It was not easy!. Living here in Spain, access to fine woods is difficult. we only have pine as a natural wood here. I bought the woods from several sources in planks of odd sizes and cut to suit.All imported from America!! I have learnt new skills on the way, ripping large planks and using a router being two of many!

We launched last week and I was amazed at the reception from the local boating community, never had so many nice comments on my work before. Needles to say I am now looking at my next project, Bay Hawk looks real nice!! I will never sell my Prospector though.

If your ever in Spain come and see her, your very wecome. 

Thanks again Jack.
Regards Bryan Gore
Spain

Hi Jack.
I was able to Finnish the project,and i must admit i am very proud of the finished result. i still have not had her in the water yet,as it is still winter here and i am not keen on the cold.

John O'brien in Australia

Hi Jack

Here are some photos of my Prospector to date.  I started this project in a loft above my garage in Somerset, UK in October 2006. I meant to have it finished and in the water by this summer. Progress was OK during the winter but I have had other commitments recently and am not likely to have it finished until next spring. I enjoyed the wood-work and felt that the hull took shape quite successfully. I have had a lot of difficulty with the fibre-glassing and have not been completely satisfied with the finish of the outside of the hull as there are some blemishes and air pockets- its a learning process. However, I have recently flipped the hull and am very excited my the beautiful lines of the hull and am looking forward to pressing on when I get the chance. Its certainly a lot differant from the 250kg dug-out pirogue that I paddled down the Congo in 1993. I'm looking forward to exploring the seldom piloted shallow rivers of the South-West of the UK with my 4 year old son next year.

George Jones
Litton
UK

The boat is coming along great except that I going to need to mill more D&*^ strips. Ah well.... it's all part of the fun. Weaving the strips to get the end designs was time consuming but a lot of fun. Thanks for the info on building the scuppers. I’ve added them to this boat.

... Later we received the following:
Thought you would like to see the finished product. I used purple heart wood for the plugs and breasthook details. I like the way it added a little color. I’ll probably sand down the outer hull and put on a few more coats of varnish some rainy day but it was just time to get the boat in the water. Finished it weighs 57 pounds and paddles nice. Can’t wait to take her fishing.

Thank you.

Ed Swiniarski
Tariffville CT

David Wood's Prospector Canoe Building project

Hi all,

As you can see in the attached photos, Cam put his finger into the router that we set up as a spindle mould. No stitches, just took the end off a little. He carried on like a blouse and nearly fainted. I should have given him some epoxy to harden the hell up!!!!!! He's fine now. But the canoe's looking great don't you think?

We have made the seats, small decks with built in handles and carrying yoke already. 
All we have to do now is finish the outer with more epoxy coats and then sand it. Then we can flip the hull possibly tomorrow and start fairing the inside and glass it up as well. This shouldn't be as difficult as the outer as it doesn't need to be as perfect as the outside. Then install the gunwales, yoke, seats and decks. Then we polyurethane the whole thing.

Jack, the guy who made the kit said it will take 4 weeks. He was pretty well spot on if you stick at it full time. Its 3 weeks for us and I reckon we would have another week if were able to do it in one go. But Cam goes back to Melbourne on Saturday so it looks like I will have to do it over the next couple of months till his next term holidays in March.

Then we launch it and off we go down the Murrumbidgee.

Kind regards, 

Darren Cook

Hi Jack:

Here are some pictures of the canoe.  They were taken right after I wetted the canoe and some finished pictures.
What a blessing..

All the Best

Chris

Hi Jack,

I am so thankful that I came across sandypointboatworks.com when I got the idea to build a boat. This has been such a great stress reliever from the 9-5 and quite frankly a major turning point in my life. Here’s a bit of conversation I overheard from Wesley when he had one of his friends over the other day:
Wesley’s friend: What does your dad do?
Wesley: He works on computers.
Wesley’s friend: My dad blows things up with explosives at the lab, how cool is that?
Wesley: My dad makes things. Check this out.

Door to the shop opens.

Wesley’s friend: My dad has GOT to see this!
Wesley: Sure, but tell him to leave the dynamite at work!

If you ever need any computer or database advise, please just ask. I really appreciate all the help and guidance you've given me on this project!

Best Regards,

Brian
Brian

Hi Jack,

I still have a bit of finishing of to do on the boat, but had it on the water on Saturday,

I must add that we were two on the boat, about 500 lb and it took us very well and handled beautifully. I will try to take a short video clip next time and send that to you.

Regards,

Erich

Hello. Thought you'd be interested in this canoe I made from the 'Little Rob' plans I got from you last fall. The accompanying DVD made all the difference in the world and I take special pride in the fact that I lofted the plans and did not use the included templates. (I was realllly dumb and didn't think you sent me enough of the patterns. Duh? I only needed half of them because you mirrored them on the other end of the form. Sheesh...)

Anyway, I thought you might like to see the completed 'Julie Kay'. The end cap pieces are made up of alternating strips of 1/4 inch white pine and walnut. Those weren't in the original plans but it just seemed to fit well with the rest of the canoe and adds some personality and uniqueness to it. 

Shon

When I talked to you the other day I promised I email pics. Here they are.

Richard Spencer
Hesperia CA 92345

Hello All,
It turned out quite well and am building another. It has been to three art shows and in three publications. So I guess I did ok. As a matter of fact I was going to be calling you to start work on designing that drift boat soon.

So here are some pictures, and the first boat is now on display for pre-sale models at the Fairhope Fly Shop in Fairhope AL. Thanks for all the help and I'm really looking forward to doing business with you later this year. You'll have to take a guided trip with me once the drift boat is done.

Take it easy and I hope spring comes early for y'all,

Peter

I'm sending you some more pictures off my boat . made off ''Western red cedar ''

Thank you!!!

Justin Gallant
Scoudouc NB
CA Canada

Hi Jack,
I launched the little rob on 31 August, she handles fine, must still complete the back rests.

Regards,

Erich
South Africa

Hi. Thank you for your help and advice earlier in the year. We have had a wonderful summer with the canoe and have now put it to bed for the winter. It attracts a lot of attention wherever we go as there are not many like it here. I thought perhaps you would apreciate a photo of the finished article. 

Kind regards. Chris Pearson.

16' Runabout Boat building project by Jackie Smith.

Hello, My friend.

Let me preface by saying that we’re really enjoying our “father-son” project. It’s nice to see my father indulging himself in such a productive hobby.

One picture is of my dad next to the boat. We’ve chosen cedar, then an band of walnut, then back to cedar, and finally white ash for the bottom. Makes for an interesting pattern. I’ll send more pictures later. 

Best Regards,

Brad Konopa Wisconsin

Kevin wanted to send you a picture of their canoe. 
We put string under our staples to allow them to be pulled out easier. It works really good for pulling out part of the staple and using pliers to finish pullin it out without nicking the wood.
The guys are ready to fiberglass the outside. They wanted me to send you an update! They are having a blast building this canoe and can't wait to get it in the water.....

This is so pretty!
They have turned it over now!
Kevin is almost done! We can't wait to put it in a lake!
Wahoo! We float! Thanks, it was a great time spent with his Dad!
Shauna and Kevin Leake
Utah

I am sending you a few pictures of the class and boat. If you see something that we could be doing differently, please do not hesitate to add any comments.

We are beginning to feel more comfortable with the stripping process. One of the students came up 
with an alternative solution to the relief stripping method. I think we will try it on the next boat.

I have also added a picture of a bass net we make and a picture of a larger net we make. In the picture, the smaller net in the middle is the bass net. It measures approximately 11" across. The larger thing in the press, is the laminating process of the larger nets. It has yet to be sanded, finished, and the setting material added.

I hope you have a fun weekend.

John & class

Happy Canoeing
John Lawson
Corunna, MI 48817

Thanks Jack.

Here are a couple of pictures of the boat. These were taken just after I wet it down with a soaking rag. I think it is going to look great when I glass it.....at least not bad for my first boat! I also want to take this opportunity to say thank you for putting this package together and making it available to others, what a neat skill to learn. I am sure this will not be my last boat.....I'm not sure how anybody could build just one! Anyway, thanks and have a great
day!

Joe

Hi
I recentley purchesed plans for the open canoe the companion just wanted to say thank you ... it was great I'm a cabinet builder and wanted somthing diffrent to challange me so I bought your plans and I won't bother you long but wanted to express my gratitude and I'm not done yet I want another project I'm thinking about the 18 foot runabout ..... 
Sending you a pic of my first strip canoe.

Thanks,
Jereme Sigmon
Conover, NC

Just letting you know i just finished the Billington and I think it turned out quite well. Thanks for the great plans !

Jim Van Haren

Hey Jack, 
Just thought you would like to know. I entered my canoe into the Mower County Fair, our local fair. I took "Grand Champion" and "1st place" both. They are trying to talk me into entering it into the "State Fair", but I don't have the time to get it there. But it makes me feel great that they think it's good enough to win at a "State Fair".
I really appreciate all the help you provided through the process of making "My" work of art. Needless to say I am already thinking and plotting what my next project is going to be! 
Thanks again,
Jay

Hello Jack,

Here are a few pics of the finished canoe. It turned out awesome. I finished it one day before we left for a two week vacation to Lake Shasta, which is in Redding, CA, about a 12 1/2 hour drive from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Thanks for all the help! It was fun and I definitely learned a lot! Couldn't have done it without you.
Hope your summer is going well,

David McCullough
P.S. Check out the custom cup (beer) holders!

Hey Jack 

I just wanted to say that I enjoyed building the Bay Hawk Canoe.It was fun and relaxing to build.I bought this kit from you in Aug, of 08 and I completed it in July of this year.Being here in Nashville Tennessee, the boat is a head turner and eye catcher.The canoe is so fast and smooth on the water that it surprised me.

And most of all my wife loves it.Here are some pictures of it.Thank you so much

Danny Perry 
Nashville Tn.

Hello, I purchased the plan and DVD set for this boat last fall. I thought you might be interested in the finished boat so I have attached a couple of pictures. I found the design logical and nicely curvy. The boat went to North Carolina as a gift to my daughter and I have not gotten an in the water report yet. Thanks for the great design. And I truly enjoyed the video. This was my second wood strip project and you taught me several new tricks, Thanks again

Christopher Licavoli
Saint Clair Shores MI 48081

Hey man,

My Son and I finally finished our winter project (Oct 07-June 08). We had a great time and my 3 1/2 year old son loves to talk about our canoe excursions that we have made. At bedtime we discuss life and he turns the conversation to spending time on the canoe and paddling it about. 

Together we also tyed a Royal Coachman Fly tyed wet style and inset it into the forward deck.

Thanks much for the video and plans to make this dream of mine a reality.

Andrew Congdon
Ohio

Hi Jack

'The' place in the UK to buy timber from for marine purposes is Robbins 
 http://www.robbins.co.uk/marine/prices.asp
That said i bought mine from a local timber merchant, Morgans and they were very good  http://www.morgantimber.co.uk/ Cedar costs more over here than it does for you but including the glass and everything else I got my boat on the water for about £500 all in.

Regards
Ian

Randy Cook Adirondack Guide Boat building project
PLATTSBURGH NY 12901
US United States

We saw these boats at the Adirondack museum last fall and were bitten.Here are some pics of our boat. It's ceder with walnut gunwales bottom board and stems. The fiberglass is on and being sanded. Your plans and info are great. i'm a retired wood worker this is my first boat and I found all needed info on strip building. Thanks again for the great plans.

Jim Wayman
Saranac MI 48881

Hello Jack

All strips are now on, had some difficulty with the top 3 strips mostly were all 3 pieces came together the stem piece the bottom blank and the strip, worked at it and it appears good, now lots of sanding and I will watch the fiber-glassing stage on the DVD, hope it looks like it is supposed too. 

all the best Ed.

Good morning Jack,
E/V "DUET" is happily living a life of luxury on Lake Mission Viejo, California.

Getting it to go fast was way power hungry; so we are happy to obey the 6mph lake speed limit and go 5 hrs or so.  It is a big hit. The motor is a 48v solid nav sail drive.  I used 4 @ grp 31 AGM 110 amp batteries. The whole drive system weighs about 500 lbs. It would be better in a little larger boat. The whole boat as built weighs 1300 lbs. It tops out at 9k but cruises at 6k for 6 hrs. It is beautiful and I thank you. I tell everyone who designed it.

Thanks Doug