After building the TotalBoat Sport Dory, Lou took some time off to find a new shop and reinvigorate the Tips from a Shipwright video plan. The YouTube channel, with over 140,000 subscribers, has obviously hit home with many of you. And like you, we were excited to see that Lou is back at it making … Read More
Today we find Steve and a collection of skilled friends working on planking and preparing for the sawmill’s arrival. The crew of Acorn to Arabella have been able to motor along with the oak planking, even with Alex away. With three people in the shop, two could work on Arabella while the third picked timber and made … Read More
Leo Sampson and his crew of merry boatbuilders are making great progress on the restoration of his 1909 sailing yacht, Tally Ho. In episode 73 Tally Ho has started to resemble the curvy, gorgeous yacht that she is quickly becoming. With her deck beams ready for installation, the team is taking the time to seal … Read More
Using scraps from her first foray into wooden canoe building, TotalBoat Ambassador, Xyla Foxlin, decided to attempt next level steam bending and made herself a wooden corset. You could argue everyone needs a fiberglassed, steam-bent, wooden strip corset – but maybe if this is on your project list you’ll reconsider after seeing how much work … Read More
Jose Nieto knows a thing or two about fixing up boats. He’s on episode 10 of his Boston Whaler 13 restoration and in this episode, we loved his rolling and tipping demonstration using our varnishes. He started by sealing the wood with a few thinned coat of our Wood Sealer* and then topped that using … Read More
In today’s *riveting* video from the Acorn to Arabella crew, we get a boatload of love from our friends who are working feverishly to keep pace on their 2-10 year boat building project, their Atkins Ketch, Arabella. They aren’t letting a little quarantine slow them down, and we were certain to make sure they had … Read More
The TotalBoat team met boatbuilder, Bob Emser, last year at the Wooden Boat Show and was enamored with his gentle, artistic style of boatbuilding 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 … Read More
Andy Miller is continuing to use his time quarantined in his shop providing extra springtime launch tips for boaters who might also be putting this time to good use. Today he gives some advice on how to add nonskid to your gelcoat. He experiments with a few different ways that non-skid additives can be used … Read More
Just when Alix and Steve had a plan for planking that would launch their progress to the other side of this massive task, life changed. Their planking party would have to wait for the pandemic we are all enduring to pass, because, for this task, they need more than just two sets of hands. With … Read More
Shipwrights like Louis Sauzedde have massive amounts of experience that has taken years to amass. It’s a pleasure to see how that knowledge is shared with newer shipwrights who don’t have the benefit of trial and error. Steve and Alix are well-read, self-taught shipwrights with no prior experience, so a visit from Lou during the … Read More
While it might feel like time has slowed down this spring, the winter was busy for our customers who have been working inside their garages, boat sheds, and workshops on many great things. What emerges in the springtime is anyone’s guess, but we always like to catch a peek inside while the hard work is … Read More
It must be planking season because many of the backyard boatbuilders are doing the planking thing these days. Scott, who is building a trawler in his upstate NY boatshed, is finally to the point where he is attaching the first layers of white oak planking. It’s not the last of his planking layers – he’ll … Read More
It took a little help from some experienced friends and a few calls into the TotalBoat Support Team, but Chris from Third Coast Craftsman has been both frustrated and exhilarated by his drift boat build. He landed himself with the chance for a pretty topside paint job after he was unhappy with the fiberglassing job … Read More
Talented woodworker, Chris Schoenberg of Third Coast Craftsman (now Boatbuilding!), has had good luck so far with his wooden drift boat boatbuilding project. This week’s video, however, shows that not all skills can be assumed – like the fine art of fiberglassing that we know can be trickier than expected. As can easily happen, Chris … Read More
Louis Sauzedde’s famous stature as a boatbuilding video star extends far beyond New England and the United States. Chileans in the town of Lota flocked to meet Louis when he visited their local shipyard on the shore during his visit there last year. The press and locals were there to interview the superstar and get some … Read More