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About Guide Boats
The first guideboat was designed in
the 1830's in the Adirondacks. It was a boat born of
necessity, when hunting, fishing and trapping put food
on the table. Beaver pelts went to market in boats such
as these. Towards the end of the century, these boats
changed from crude hunting skiffs into their present
graceful form. This evolution was accomplished, as
always, by competition. Builders competed with each
other, as did the guides. Typically these boats were
designed to carry a guide, two sports (as their
customers were called) and all their gear.
 Yet they had to be light enough for
one person to carry. Henry van Dyke wrote of such boats,
(in 1895), "they are one of the finest things that
the skill of man has ever produced under the inspiration
of the wilderness. It is a frail shell, so light that a
guide can carry it with ease, but so dexterously
fashioned that it rides the heaviest waves like a duck
and slips through the water as if by magic."
Today that tradition of beauty,
strength, and light weight is carefully preserved in the
careful construction and meticulous attention to detail
that defines every guide boat that comes out of our
shop. The hull of our top-of-the-line boat is made
of red cedar, the stems and ribs are made of spruce, the
bottom board is pine, and cherry is used for the seats,
oars, gunnels and trim.
Steve Kaulback, co-owner and designer
of the beautiful craft, explains, "We use each wood
to its best advantage. Cherry is known as a beautiful
wood, but not many appreciate how tough and flexible it
is."
Each wooden boat takes 250 to 300
hours to build, and with reasonably care, will become a
family heirloom for many generations to come.
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