Its time to build a beautiful boat. The next project is a 15-foot classic Rangeley Lake rowing boat. Rather than the marine plywood and epoxy used in the last few boats, our Rangeley boat will be built using the wood strip construction method. Narrow strips of quarter-inch white and red cedar and mahogany will be milled with cove and bead edges then edge glued along a set of forms. Once all the strips are glued together they will be covered inside and out with fiberglass cloth and epoxy. This building method creates a smooth hull with nautically seductive sweeping curves. And for such an art piece, strip boats are surprisingly easy to maintain, and lighter than traditionally-planked boats.

This is a 15′ Rangeley Lakes boat built by Newfound Boatworks in New Hampshire.

Rangeley boats were designed in the late 1800s for Maine guides to take city “sports” on fly fishing expeditions on the lakes of northern Maine. They are stable enough to stand up while fishing. Our boat is designed by Newfound Boatworks in New Hampshire, which will be supplying our wood strips. If past boats predict anything, we’ll probably end up creating some striking wood patterns.

This type of boat is built upside down on a set of frames. Here is the boat with the hull strips all glued up. This is covered in epoxy and fiberglass, finished clear so the wood shows.

Next, the boat is turned right side up, the interior is scraped and sanded to remove all the glue drips, then the inside will be epoxied and glassed. Here it is after being flipped.

We’ll post more photos of the boat build as it continues. This boat will probably sell pretty quickly. If you are interested in it, drop us an email.