The "Coastal" is an earlier version of the Guillemot.
I built this boat for an exhibition at the American Craft Museum. It is now in the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art. photo by Richard Bergen
The original "Puzzle Boat" photographed off Mistake Island near Jonesport, ME.
This is the original Expedition Single that I built in about 1994. The woods are redwood, western red cedar and pine.
The dark wood is redwood, medium is western red cedar and lightest is pine
Looking for surf. Photo by Carl Tjerandsen
The Aleutesque is loosely based on Aleut Baidarka designs. The stern creates an effectively longer waterline for efficient top speed.
The fine entry of the Aleutesque permits an exceptionally smooth slicing throught the water.
The Aleutesque is a modern designed based loosely on Aleut Baidarka skin-on-frame kayaks.
The Aleutesque is quite low volume so it will pierce into a wave but has enough buoyancy to lift out quickly and keep moving without getting bogged down.
In this kayak I built a wooden seat of western red cedar and Alaskan yellow cedar
I built the deck of this Night Heron with sequential strips cut from two flitch western red cedar sawn boards.
This is the boat I built for a 1995 instruction article in Sea Kayaker Magazine. The wood is western red cedar and pine.
This is the prototype I built in 1996. It has since gone on to win the Blackburn Challenge multiple times.
The prototype of the Guillemot Double built in northern white cedar with red wood accents.
My brother Eric and I built this prototype of my Play design
This prototype was built with northern white cedar.
Sarah Evertson and Tom Mailhot cruising around Cape Ann
Book matched western red cedar with pine accents
Paddling the first Night Heron past Ironbound Island in Maine.
Blue Hill Falls in Blue Hill, Maine is a reversing, tidal falls with a nice standing wave, excellent for surfing practice - if you can catch it. Photo by Carl Tjerandsen
Elizabeth Kubie, director of the Washington Craft Show, presents the show's 2005 First Prize Award to kayak builder Nick Schade. photo by Tina Coplan
Testing out the Mystery in waves off Napatree Point
Nick paddling the Mystery prototype. The wood is western red cedar with a Cordovan mahogany stain applied. Photo by Carl Tjerandsen
This is the Petrel prototype the day it was launched. It's first trip was 20 miles out to the isolated Little Gull Lighthouse at the entrance to Long Island Sound.
Photo by Dave Grainger
The prototype of the Razor Billed Auk built of western red and northern white cedar
A double paddle canoe
built with 1/8" thick mahogany, with carbon fiber on the interior and 4 ounce fiberglass on the exterior. The seats are mahogany and maple.
Jim paddling past Ram Island near Mystic, CT.
Jim paddling the original prototype of my stitch and glue sit on top kayak
Waiting for a wave.
Sea trials were on a cold day in March at "Deep Hole" off Matunuck, Rhode Island. Air temperature around 32 and water temperature about 39. The waves were not that well formed, but the boat was a lot of fun.
The Nymph is a new design for me. I built it of walnut and basswood with Carbon-Kevlar cloth on the inside and S-Glass on the outside. The finished weight is 15 pounds. I currently am only offering this design as a custom-built boat but will be releasing plans eventually. Look here for more information about a custom built Nymph.
Using 1/8" thick basswood and walnut I was able to keep the weight down to about 15 pounds.
An 18" model of the Night Heron carved from Mahogany and Ash with a Maple cockpit, mounted on a piece of Manzanita root.
An 18" model of the microBootlegger double paddle canoe carved from Mahogany and Maple with a Mahogany veneer coaming, mounted on a piece of Manzanita root.
Susan Quinby paddling around Rockland harbor
Putting the Petrel through a pirouette at Napatree Point
Nymph
test
The Coot is a simple and practical dinghy that is good for a nice row, or to carry gear out to a yacht.
The prototype of the Ganymede took me about 40 hours to put together from a kit to launching
The 3-panel hull and 3-panel deck make the Ganymede simple to assemble
Ganymede can be built with enough room for a large paddler or with a lower deck for smaller paddlers
a solo version of the microBootlegger built from mahogany
Robin paddling the solo version of the microBootlegger
This is a small version of Ganymede I made for my 5 year old nephew
Peter was five years old when he started paddling this kayak. He took to it right away.
The stitch and glue Petrel and its little sister the Petrel "Play"
The S&G Petrel sea kayak is the same dimensions as the strip-built Petrel (17' x 20") and shares the same profile and plan shape. The hull is multichined ahead of the cockpit and single, hard, chined behind the cockpit to match the transitioning chine shape of the strip planked version.
The stitch and glue Petrel kayak has 3 VCP hatches including a British style day hatch. Custom cut-vinyl graphics were produced by Chesapeake Light Craft
The Petrel "Play" is a 14' x 23" recreational touring/roughwater play kayak. Based on the S&G Petrel it shares the same transitioning chine - "multi" in front, "single" in back.
The Petrel "Play" has recessed VCP-style rubber hatches and a fitted cockpit.
This photo was taken on launching day for the new cedar strip canoe that I'm calling the "Mystic River Tandem". It still needs some more sanding and several coats of varnish, but it is all built and ready to go.
Nick's parents Duffy and Gerhard, giving the new Mystic River Tandem canoe a test paddle. The wood is western red cedar and Atlantic white cedar with basswood gunwales. The red cedar has a stain on it.
The S&G Petrel works well for a variety of paddlers. The cockpit just seems to fit.
This boat is stitch and glue construction, made from okoume marine plywood. It is available as plans or a kit for do it yourself boat builders.
The S&G Petrel is a sophisticated stitch and glue plywood you can build yourself. Made from okoume plywood, fiberglass and epoxy it is a great project for the DIY woodworker looking to make something other than another birdhouse.
The Petrel "Play" is made of Okoume marine plywood and can be built by do it yourself woodworkers and boatbuilders either from plans or a kit.
The Petrel "Play" is suitable for quiet paddles in calm water or for ripping it up in the surf when there is a big nor-easter off shore. Wooden kayaks are lightweight and strong making ideal for rough water.
There are some places you can only get with a kayak. Paddling a kayak you built yourself is a gratifying way to explore the coast.
Western red cedar Petrel kayak. The finish on this kayak is automotive clear coat sprayed on at a body shop.
A customer wanted a shortened version of the Petrel to fit in his small garage, so I built him this one at 16 foot 6 inches (502 cm). The construction is 3/16" western red cedar strips with 4 ounce cloth, the weight is 33 pounds (14.9 kg).
The Noank Pulling boat is a beautiful, efficient sliding seat wooden rowing boat suitable for open water
I created this new design for a customer looking for a fun kayak to use on a lake in Wisconsin. He wanted something suitable for some fitness paddling as well as relaxed touring. This boat was built from 1/8" thick book matched mahogany strips. I will be offering plans for the design when I have finished all the drawings
Paddling the strip built Petrel Play in a tide race
Portrait of the Petrel Play
John Harris rowing the Noank Pulling Boat
The Noank Pulling Boat is a fast, rough water touring boat propelled by sliding seat rowing.
Sleek and stable, the Noank Pulling Boat is comfortable in calm or rough rowing conditions
