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Hi everyone - I guess since I’ve been working behind the scenes on the business end of things here at Duckworks since the beginning of the year, it’s about time for me to introduce myself! My name is Katie Malik, I’m the General Manager of Gig Harbor Boat Works, and by extension also now of Duckworks since we were lucky enough to acquire Duckworks as a sister company at the beginning of the year. I grew up around small boats – my parents Dave and Janet Robertson are the original founders …

Continuing our Epoxy 101 series, this month we’re looking at just what makes wood and epoxy such an effective and practical pair. (Make sure to read part 1 first, “Three Essential Rules of Epoxy,”) Quick recap of those 3 rules: Keep it off you It takes two to Tango Get it out of the Cup (Honorable mention: Go to the Bathroom Before you Mix Epoxy) With those foundational rules understood, I want to talk about some of the ways in which you are likely to use epoxy in your build …

We are thrilled to finally share some big news that has been in the works for quite a while now . . . Duckworks is now a sister company of Gig Harbor Boat Works! Gig Harbor Boat Works is already well known to the Duckworks community as the makers of the fiberglass SCAMP. They were involved in the SCAMP project from very early on, meeting with Josh Colvin, John Welsford, and the Small Craft Advisor crew to ensure that the fiberglass version was true to its wooden boat roots. Their fibergl …

A lot of new boatbuilders are a bit intimidated by the idea of working with epoxy. If you follow these three very basic rules you will be on the road to epoxy success, so let’s dig into each a bit.Rule #1: Keep it off of you The first rule has to do with the safety aspect of working with epoxy. Epoxy is a sensitizer, each time you get it on your skin you get increasingly sensitized to it. The more sensitive you are to it, the more and more likely you are to develop issues from the exposure. …

Ever wonder whether anyone actually builds a boat from the free plans we offer here at Duckworks? Here's a success story from builder Mic Dales, who completed his Drifter 16 trimaran from free plans in only 3.5 months!  The Drifter 16 Trimaran plans are among the many great boat plans offered for free at Duckworks.com Here is what Mic had to say about the 108-day build: "During the summer my son, who lives right …

2022 has been a busy year for plans so far and I am way behind with getting word out that we have added several new designs to the Duckworks collection. We're always on the lookout for new designs to offer you. Really, it's a fun job engaging with Naval Architects from around the world looking for new designs, as well as talking with our long-standing friends to see what exciting new plans they have been working on. It's a little like perpetually being on the verge of a new project myself, whi …

If ever there was a good time to get your boat projects done so you're ready to maximize time on the water—this would be it! Let's take a look at what some of you are up to right now: Reader John Hartmann writes: "Here is an image of a Francois Vivier-designed Jewell that I’ve been building from a Clint Chase kit over the past year and a half. She’s pretty much complete, and I’ll be getting her onto a trailer and getting the rig together between now and an anticipated …

We've been getting a lot of calls and orders from builders racing to finish their boats as the latter part of summer approaches. Expert builder Dan Mattson stopped by recently to finish the rigging of his beautiful new SCAMP, with SCAMP oracle, Simeon Baldwin. meeting him here to assist. Dan's SCAMP features all kinds of Duckworks parts, from the bronze port kit to the bronze cleats, to the hatches and pintles and gudgeons. …

What if your trailerable boat doesn't sit in a slip year-round like most big boats, but it does sometimes spend weeks or even months in the water?Many of us take our boat on one or two extended cruises each year, or perhaps leave our boat in a slip for easy access for a month, but does this warrant the labor and expense of anti-fouling bottom paint? Maybe not, but pulling your boat out to find the bottom covered in barnacles, mussels, and algae isn’t good either.A friend recently told us about a …

It's that time of the year where some of you are racing to finish your boat before the weather turns, while others have conceded to continuing with a winter project and an eye on a spring 2021 launch. Above is a Wood Duck 12 kayak from CLC that owner Richard has fitted with the Michael Storer drop-in sail rig. Richard says he just spent a rainy and unusually cold weekend on "Lac Du Der" in northeast France, sailing and fishing in F3 conditions, "dodging into the r …