The definitive guide to the history and makers of Adirondack guideboats

Adirondack history is a tale written o~ the water. In the Adirondacks, people have traveled, conducted warfare, hunted and fished, gone to church, proposed marriage, and driven logs in, on, from, or by water. Without boats, small and large, Adirondack history—social, recreational, commercial, and environmental—would be an affair entirely different from what we have come to know. In this lavishly illustrated account, Hallie E. Bond presents a history of these boats—canoes, sailboats, power launches, outboards, and the indigenous guideboat—that figure prominently in the overall history of the Adirondacks. The pre-contact Indians paddled dugout and bark canoes; in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries these craft were joined by skiffs and bateaux. Between 1820 and World War II, a distinctive tradition of boat building developed, culminating in the famous Adirondack guideboat. As the nineteenth century progressed, a variety of small, fresh water, musclepowered boats was produced in the Adirondacks—an assemblage matched by only a few places in the country. There were the canoes and the men that made them famous—John Henry Rushton and Nessmuk—and the guideboats and their builders—H. Dwight Grant and Willard Hanmer. In the early twentieth century, the development of the internal combustion engine irrevocably changed not only boat use and design, but life and leisure in the Adirondacks. Bond skillfully captures the whole panorama of boats and boating in the Adirondacks, from early dugouts and bateaux to the highpowered inboards that won Gold Cup races on Lake George and the Kevlar pack canoes of today. Drawing on her experience as an historian and Curator of Collections and Boats at the Adirondack Museum, Bond places events and trends of the region in the context of national and international history and describes the significant contribution of the Adirondacks in the early twentieth-century development of recreation and travel in America. Boats and Boating in the Adirondacks also includes a descriptive catalog of boats from the museum's own collection with nearly two hundred illustrations in addition to those in the narrative, a list of boatbuilders active in the North Country before 1975, and a valuable glossary of terms.

The Adirondack guideboat has survived for well over a century as a unique regional classic, first as a workboat in the rugged Adirondack mountain region of New York and later as a recreational craft. It is noted for its graceful lines, elegant curves, easy and speedy rowing, and for having a very high ooh-ahh value among casual observers. It may be easily built by accomplished amateur and professional woodworkers alike. In this book, John Michne explains, in his usual excruciating detail with wisps of wit here and there, how you can replicate a guideboat exactly as if it had just rolled out of an Adirondack boat shop a century ago. Built from laminated spruce ribs and covered in narrow edge-glued strips or traditionally planked in pine, it is a woodworker's dream challenge. Making every part of the boat (except the oarlocks) is detailed in 25 chapters, with over 270 shop photos and six appendices, including 16 pages of detailed dimensioned drawings by John Gardner, courtesy of Adirondack Experience. As an additional bonus, there are 12 full-size CAD drawings included at no extra cost via download. These drawings of ribs, seats, oars, and more eliminate the need for the builder to spend many hours doing tedious manual lofting even before starting construction.

The first comprehensive book on stripbuilding almost any type of small boat Strip-planking is a popular method of amateur boat construction, but until now there has never been a book that showed how to use it for more than one type of boat. Author Nick Schade presents complete plans for three boats of different types (canoe, kayak, and a dinghy) and shows you step-by-step how to build them. Written for all amateur builders, the book covers materials, tools, and safety issues.

Using the Wee Lassie as an example, the author opens your eyes to the natural beauty around you. A practical and beautiful craft, this lightweight and strong double-paddle canoe will carry you to waterways that are inaccessible in most boats.