Max Pollard's Punt
Built in Pasadena in 2008, Max Pollard constructed this punt for his daughter with timber cut in his own backyard. Used at Old Man's Pond, Max made repairs in 2012 which included replacing a number of rotting timbers and the top two counter boards.Puzzled by the disbursement of the rot, Max can only speculate on the cause. "I don't know if freshwater makes that much difference to the wood, but she's very rotten - in only four years."
While wooden boats are known to last longer in salt water than freshwater, improper storage or quality of wood may have also been factors. "She's rotted in patches. Some timbers are good and some are gone," says Max.
Max built her without the aid of moulds, using spruce for timbers and fir for planks. "I s'pose I just know what I need. If I'm building a certain boat, I want a certain width for the midship bend, certain width for the afterhook, and a certain width for the forehook." Once these three main timbers are in place, Max uses a copper tube to get the shape for the remaining timbers.
