A man from the Lake Placid area came a while back to our local woodworkers society meeting to do a lecture on the Adirondack Guide Boats he builds. He had a great slide show and a couple of really interesting techniques that I thought you all would get a kick out of. First was doing the curved ribs. He felt that steam bending or laminating was basically building a spring that wanted to flatten out and he wasn't comfortable with that. His solution was to find naturally occurring curving wood. He follows lumber jacks around and after they fell a tree, he looks for nice roots that curve outwards from the stump. He grubs these out by hand and then "rocks" them freehand through a 36" bandsaw. (Not an OSHA approved technique!)

Another question was about winter storage for his boats. His lapstrake design uses no glass, epoxy etc. to seal, so the swelling of the wood in the water provided watertight joints. He said his boats are made to be in the water. So when the leaves are falling, he pulls his AGB 20' offshore, fills it with rocks and sinks the thing, where it rests, under the ice, on the bottom through the long winter. In spring, he takes a chilly dive, empties and refloats it. Considering he can get more than $10,000 per boat, some raised their eyebrows. I personally ran out to get insulated SCUBA gear.

I will see if I can track down this guys name. He would be a great resource for you.

Brent