Steve Sanford
Well-known member
All~
I guess this is NDR - but these boats were certainly used to hunt deer - and I cannot help but think that more than one poor Goosander was hauled ashore in a Guideboat over the past century-and-a-half....
I have always coveted but never owned an Adirondack Guideboat. I have rowed a few - an amazing experience of efficiency whilst afloat - but never lived where I "needed" one. Yesterday, I hauled a friend's guideboat up to the heart of guideboat country - Long Lake in the Adirondacks. Although my friend and her family rowed it for many years on Lake George, we both live in dairy country now where big lakes are not to be found. (And although Susan and I have a family camp on Lake Champlain, that inland sea is a bit too big for a guideboat.)
So, this vessel is now in the capable hands of a sixth-generation guideboat builder - most likely to be fully restored and ready to ply some new waters here in the Northeast.
We do not know when it was built or who built her. My friend's family acquired it shortly after WW II and it is in very good condition. Aside from repairs to a few planks and some new caning in the seats, it looks like - without the benefit yet of truly close scrutiny - it mostly requires cosmetics: off with the old varnish and on with some new.
I sacrificed a pool noodle to guard against chafe to/from my roof rack.
Here is a new boat a-buildingin the Long Lake shop.
In this jig, this guideboat can be rotated and pinned in dozens of positions to ease the building process. The planking is 1/4-inch Northern Whitecedar.
The rocker along the keel is carefully established and maintained throughout the building process.
The backward rake in this stem is called "tumblehome".
I hope to post some AFTER photos sometime in the future.
All the best,
SJS
I guess this is NDR - but these boats were certainly used to hunt deer - and I cannot help but think that more than one poor Goosander was hauled ashore in a Guideboat over the past century-and-a-half....
I have always coveted but never owned an Adirondack Guideboat. I have rowed a few - an amazing experience of efficiency whilst afloat - but never lived where I "needed" one. Yesterday, I hauled a friend's guideboat up to the heart of guideboat country - Long Lake in the Adirondacks. Although my friend and her family rowed it for many years on Lake George, we both live in dairy country now where big lakes are not to be found. (And although Susan and I have a family camp on Lake Champlain, that inland sea is a bit too big for a guideboat.)
So, this vessel is now in the capable hands of a sixth-generation guideboat builder - most likely to be fully restored and ready to ply some new waters here in the Northeast.
We do not know when it was built or who built her. My friend's family acquired it shortly after WW II and it is in very good condition. Aside from repairs to a few planks and some new caning in the seats, it looks like - without the benefit yet of truly close scrutiny - it mostly requires cosmetics: off with the old varnish and on with some new.



I sacrificed a pool noodle to guard against chafe to/from my roof rack.

Here is a new boat a-buildingin the Long Lake shop.


In this jig, this guideboat can be rotated and pinned in dozens of positions to ease the building process. The planking is 1/4-inch Northern Whitecedar.

The rocker along the keel is carefully established and maintained throughout the building process.

The backward rake in this stem is called "tumblehome".

I hope to post some AFTER photos sometime in the future.
All the best,
SJS