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Warren D. Messer
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I have been around small boats most of my adult life, with a hitch in the Coast Guard, and racing sailboats in the ½ and ¾ ton IOR classes in Puget Sound. I also had a Coronado 15 for several years that I used for trailer sailing in and around the Northwest.
I then got into white water kayaking for about 20 years, with lots of different boats, plus owning a few canoes and sea kayaks along the way. This was followed by the armchair, over the bounding seas, sailor period, which I am currently in. All that reading lead to the debate over hard shell or inflatable for the ship's tender. After seeing the prices and life spans of inflatables, I woke up in the world of owner built small wooden boats. Then to the question of which side do I stand on, modern or traditional? I went with quick and easy.
The first design was for me, and I wanted something that could be easily repaired or replaced anywhere in the world. So I started searching online and in lots and lots of books for the perfect design. Seek and you'll wish you hadn't. I wanted a boat that had the lines of the old classics, but not all the work to build just the jig, and then still have to make the boat; or to have the excessive boat weight of traditional plank construction. I wanted simple, light, and strong; and that's stitch and glue. Like Queen Victoria, I was not amused with what I saw being offered and decided to clear my own path through the forest. My degree is in Forest Engineering from the University of Washington and I wanted to apply some of my wood structures education to the process of designing a boat. Light and strong and pleasing to the eye; stitch and glue, and stylish too.
I have a fleet of boats on the drawing boards and coming down the ways, and will be posting them at DuckWorks as soon as they launch.
Thank you
Warren D. Messer
