Richard Honan

Richard Honan has been building boats for well over a decade. A sign maker by trade, he began buying epoxy and fasteners for his sign business, as well as paint for his fiberglass one-design Raven class sailboat. In 2002 he merged his love for sailing and his woodworking prowess to build a 8-foot wooden nutshell pram. Part of the fun for Richard was involving his family in the boatbuilding process – from his brothers to his sons-in-law and especially the crowd he decided mattered most to his teaching and enjoyment: the grandchildren. Building boats with his family and kids would become something Richard would cherish as his grandkids grew and he was able to not only share the build with them, but also the enjoyment of using the home-built boats on the water.

In the time since Richard started that first nutshell pram, he has built 10 more boats and is back at it, building another nutshell pram with his young neighbor who wanted to try his hand at boatbuilding. we featured the Adirondack Guide Boat the Richard built in the 2016 JD Catalog, and were all too happy to add Richard to the ranks of the Ambassadors. And we are not the only ones recognizing Richard’s amazing boatbuilding skills. His Melonseed skiff won 1st Place at the Wooden Boat Show Concours d’Elegance and Best in Show in the boat show’s “I Built It Myself” category that same year. Richard exemplifies what it means to be passionate about boatbuilding as a hobby; He is sharing his expertise with the youthful future of boatbuilding!

RICHARD & TOTALBOAT:

Richard uses TotalBoat paints and finishes on his projects. On the Adirondack Guide Boat pictured, Richard used TotalTread, WetEdge Topside paint which he sprayed onto the hull, as well as Marine Wood Finish and Gleam on the woodwork. Richard is experimenting with the High Performance 2:1 Epoxy on the nutshell build and we can’t wait to hear what he has to say about this new epoxy.