The Bay of Islands Dory, recognized by its bright orange hull and green trim, is a regionally unique boat that has been adapted by generations of boat builders for use in the local…

“That’s all cut out of the trees, roots of the trees. No steamed laths on my boats. A lot of people used to build boats that got steamed laths, but I always cut the trees in the woods the right shape…”

“As far as I know, most of the swampbottoms that were built, were built in Epworth. There were a couple of fellows down there: Ren Roberts was one man...”

Built in 1989 by Calvie Meadus, fisherman and boat builder from St. Jones Within, Trinity Bay, this motorboat measures 19’6” long and just over 6’ beam. “She is quite substantial for a motorboat her length with big flaring on her bows and…”

Locally known as a “bully boat,” this style of boat was common from Smith Sound to Trinity Bight for use with handline and trawl into the 1970s. Built in Ireland’s Eye, New Bonaventure and elsewhere in this area, these boats were distinguishable by…

Born 1864 and married at 24, Thomas Head lived in Joe Batt's Arm on the north coast of Fogo Island, Newfoundland. Thomas was a fisherman all his life but, to eke out a living with his wife Phoebe, he would likely have turned his hand to many other things in the…

In June of 1892 John William Dorey was born in the community of Kyars Cove on Black Island, Notre Dame Bay. A fisherman all his life, John built boats as a means to supplement his income and constructed the motorboat featured here in the 1950's…

Born 1884 in Garnish Newfoundland, Stephen Leonard Grandy sparked a longstanding family preoccupation with dory construction which began with his employment with G & A Buffet Ltd., a company selling dories along the south coast of the Island. Stephen studied the design…

The Gander River Boat (also known as a Gander Bay Boat or Gander River Canoe) was designed and modified by generations of Gander Bay builders to suit the specific conditions of the Gander River…

The distinction between a punt and a rodney, or if there is even a distinction to be made, is often debated among boat builders and enthusiasts. Both punts and rodneys are…

Displacement boats are designed to minimize resistance when travelling forward through the water, whereas planing boats are designed to. The displacement hull form is configured to minimize drag or the resistance to…

As the power available in outboard motors increased, and planing became a possibility, the traditional boat builder was presented a design challenge. In the traditional process…

This speed boat was built over winter 2011-12 by Earl Feltham with help from Gerald Perry. It was constructed with a steam bent juniper frame using full-size moulds made by…

Built over winter 2011-2012, her knees were taken from a juniper (tamarack) tree that was uprooted during Hurricane Igor. All the wood for this rodney was harvested…

Sam Feltham learned how to build boats on Deer Island using cut timbers, but has been using steamed laths since moving to Glovertown in 1954. This punt, completed in August 2012, is just one of more than 100 boats built by Sam…

Jack Casey built his last boat, a sixteen foot row punt, in 2009 at eighty-eight years old.  Used by Wally Skinner of Pasadena, she is twenty-seven inches deep and sixty inches wide at midships. “Boats used to be more narrow.” Jack notes, “When I started…”

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…

Samuel Andrews built this four-oared punt in Winterton during the 1930s-1940s. It measures 15’6” long and was used during the winter for hunting seals and…

The Wooden Boat Museum’s 2011 and 2012 boat building workshops were based on these lines, lifted from a half model carved by Frank Lane of Tilting, Fogo Island…