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Kevlar Adirondack Guideboats |
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| One score before Abraham Lincoln became president, the first Adirondack guideboat slid into a pristine lake in the Adirondack Mountains. That boat was built with pine and spruce and cedar and 8,000 tiny tacks and screws. The guide at the oars knew the woods and the lakes and the wildlife of the Adirondacks like he knew his own hands. Guideboats flourished for perhaps for 60 years, 1840-1900, with a peak perhaps in the 1880's and '90's. The boat influenced and developed sport and commerce and civil culture in the Adirondack Mountains. And then, with the advent of roads and pick-up trucks, the guideboat fell into decline. The boats themselves, of course, were as wonderful as ever and occupied a place of high esteem in people's memories and imaginations. But the boats were no longer needed. By the 1920's and 1930's guideboat production for all the boatbuilders in the Adirondacks fell to perhaps a boat or two per year. |
| And then, as sometimes happens, a culture discovers that an object from its past that is so wonderful and so emotionally and aesthetically satisfying that, even though practical applications no longer apply, the object is brought back from the past. The Adirondack Museum played an important part in saving the Adirondack Guideboat, as did the Adirondack League Club near Old Forge, NY and the Au Sable Club in Keene Valley. Those last are family compounds with hundreds of families as members with vast boathouses filled with hundreds of boats in common, everyday use. |
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| Shortly after he began building his cedar guideboat in 1979, Steve realized that, wonderful as this boat was, that he couldn't build an enduring business based on so-precious a craft. Steve's solution was to teach himself to work with fiberglass. With one of his wooden boats as a model he built a mold. A process which had previously taken weeks was now reduced to days. Then, when Kevlar became available and affordable, Steve incorporated it into his hulls, making his boats 10 pounds lighter. This blending of a relatively ancient hull with space-age technology produced lovely boats with properties on the water or on your shoulders indistinguishable from that of his wooden boat. |
| Without intending to, Steve had become the most prolific guideboat builder in history. We guess that there were perhaps 500 guideboats built by all builders ever. Our company now builds approximately 200 boats per year and ships them all over the country. |
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Available Colors: |
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| Dark Green | . . |
| Dark Blue | .. .. |
| Light Blue | .. . |
| Jet Black | .............................. |
| Ivory | |
| Burgundy | .............................. |
| Bright Red | . .. |
| Bright Yellow | . . |
| Sea foam | . . |
| Note: These colors aren't accurate. For photos of what your boat might look like, click here | |
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Prices |
| Adirondack Guideboat, Kevlar and fiberglass hull, 3 caned cherry seats, cherry gunwales and decks, flat backrest, floorboards & footbrace | $3,200 |
| Fancy backrest, brass hinges, leather straps, brass buckles | $230 |
| 8ft guideboat oars, in soft maple | $450 |
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Total |
$3,880 |
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Note: We priced the boat based on our most popular configuration. Upgrades and downgrades are available below.
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Accessories |
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| Boat cart | $135 | |
| Ash Cradles, pair | $200 | |
| 5’ cherry sneak paddle | $150 | |
| 8ft guideboat oars, in soft maple | $450 | |
| 8ft guideboat oars, in cherry. | $650 | |
| Sliding seat component | $275 | |
| Kevlar reinforced skid plates, protect your boat from hard landings and rocky shorelines | $150 | |
| Fiberglass reinforced seats, per seat | $30 | |
| Oar bag | $110 | |
| Boat cover | $400 | |
Cherry carry yoke |
$90 | |
| Boats and Boating in the Adirondacks, by Hallie Bond | $50 | |
| The Adirondack Guide Boat by Kenneth & Helen Durant | $25 | |
Additional information is available at Accessories |
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Upgrades & Downgrades: |
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For cherry oars, add |
$200 | |
For ash gunwales, subtract |
$200 |
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We build these boats in the sequence in which orders are received. Depending on the season, we may have the boat you want in stock, or the wait may be 2 or 3 months. We ask for a 50% deposit when you place your order. The balance is due when we finish working on your boat. (If you would like us to hold delivery till spring, we are happy to oblige. However, we will still require payment when we finish working on your boat.) Order early, plan ahead. We accept Visa/MC/ Discover/ AMEX. To order one of these lovely boats, click HERE |