Building My Expedition Wherry
(Or How I Spent My Summer Vacation)
By Bodhan Barnett
Jackson, Wyoming
Last fall, I joined the University of New Hampshire rowing club with no experience whatsoever. I quickly discovered a passion for the sport and soon began to wonder how I could keep rowing over the summer. There isn’t a vibrant rowing scene in my Wyoming hometown, so there would be no clubs to join or secondhand shells to buy while I was home.
The option I was leaning towards was as simple as strapping a rowing unit onto my paddleboard, but when I stumbled upon Chesapeake Light Craft’s Expedition Wherry all other options suddenly seemed dull in comparison. It was seaworthy enough that I could safely row alone, and it had plenty of cargo capacity, which together made it perfect for camping trips, a goal that I did not know I had until then. The only issue was that I would have to build it myself, but I wasn’t about to let my lack of ability restrain my ambition. I knew my part-time summer job would leave me with enough spare time, so I ordered the kit.
As soon as I got home, I commandeered my parents’ garage and got to work. I had never worked with epoxy before, and my woodworking experience was limited, but I never once felt like I was floundering in the dark thanks to the instruction manual and CLC’s website.
My first hurdle was Wyoming’s late-spring temperatures, which regularly dip into the forties overnight—not good for curing epoxy. With CLC’s guidance, I began with sheet-plastic tents over smaller epoxy batches. When I realized that tenting an entire boat would not be reasonable, I shifted to using a propane heater.
Thankfully, the instruction manual pointed out amateur mistakes and offered tips for how to avoid them. I, an amateur boatbuilder in a hurry, validated their statements by making just about every mistake in the book, although they were luckily just cosmetic.
After two months, two weeks, and a day of sanding, twist-tying, epoxying, fiberglassing, more sanding, and varnishing, the boat was ready for its maiden voyage. Fortunately, I still had one week left before I had to head back east for school. I made the most of it, rowing in as many lakes in and around Grand Teton National Park as possible.
Those last few days of my summer vacation were easily the best days I’ve ever had on the water. My boat miraculously floated, and after I got used to sculling, did much more than float. I played around in waves while catching crabs that would spell certain doom for a single shell, I took my dog for a ride, and I tested the boat with enough cargo to prove it can handle future camping trips. Altogether, it’s my perfect boat—and the best project I’ve ever worked on.
Thank you!
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