The Art of Boat Building

The TotalBoat team met boatbuilder, Bob Emser, last year at the Wooden Boat Show and was enamored with his gentle, artistic style of boat building and of video creation, too. It was a pleasure to meet and talk to Emser whose calm, educational videos talk through his build of a Joel White designed Haven 12 1/2 – a close sistership to Herreshoff’s famed little sailing dinghy. Given the time and shop space to build such a craft, wouldn’t we all cherish the slow, intentioned pace of something as satisfying as building your own sailboat? Step into Bob’s sculpture studio turned boat shop and see how he’s taking the time to build and document this sweet little wooden boat.

Bob Emser is an internationally lauded sculptor who is inspired by the construction and aesthetics of boats and their close cousin aircraft. He leads us through the process of boat building through the eye of an artist and craftsman and his videos are a calming look at the intricacies and artistry of his craft. Enjoy!

1 comment

It was a pleasure to meet and speak with you at Mystic. I hope that your idea of building an electric launch comes to be. I admire your many craft skills and ability to communicate the What, Why and How of each step in the process. Cheers.

Howard Reed

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