Our Rowboat Kits

(No longer available)

Building a rowboat from plans or kit.

There are not too many things that you can build in this modern world.  But a rowboat is something you can.  And most of our customers who have built from our kits say they enjoyed the experience.  Even a couple of retired guys who say they had never built so much as a model airplane before.   

We currently offer two rowboat designs as kits or plans: the Odyssey 165 and the Odyssey 18.  See catalog for pricing.

These boats are of stitch-and-glue construction. This is the easiest type of construction commonly in use, and eliminates the need for strongbacks and station molds.  Assembly is done on a flat table. The planks are held together with copper wire "stitches" and then "glued" together with epoxy and fiberglass cloth and tape.

Our Odyssey™ rowboat kits include our signature laminated cell core bottom panels, which adds extra floatation and strength to the hull and eliminates the need for frames.  If building from plans, the plans show you how to do this.  Our kits also include our signature self aligning "sine-wave" splice joint, which we believe is the strongest and easiest way to join plywood sections.  Our plans show you how to do this, too.

Rowboat Kits 
Our pre-cut wooden parts kits include all the wood parts (planks, transom, gunwale rails, stem and breasthook) you will need to build the boat plus a detailed instruction manual. The plank material is marine quality plantation grown okoume plywood. The planks are accurately cut with an industrial quality CNC router.  The bottom plank is a laminated sandwich of cell core material between two layers of plywood, giving extra strength and buoyancy. This is unique in the kit boat industry.  The hardwood parts are furniture grade cherry sustainably grown in North American hardwood forests.

Additional materials are needed to complete the kit. You will need to buy: copper wire; epoxy resin, hardener and filler; fiberglass cloth and tape; paint and varnish. These can be purchased at a local marine supply store or by mail order. A comprehensive list is included with the kit.