At the 2009 Gathering of Boatbuilders that was held in Alabama, we hired a Videographer. This was the third Gathering which showcases mostly wood boats that folks have built using our boat plans as well as other designers. This was the first time we’d done this for one of our Gatherings or anything for that matter, and Chris Dixon of Vineyard Productions did a fantastic job.

Not only is Chris an excellent videographer, but he fit in with our boat builder group so well. He interviewed guys about their boats and asked questions about building I hadn’t even thought of.

Chris produced about eight interviews of boat builders that used Glen-L boat plans to build their boat. Plus, he got a lot of great video footage of the boats in action which is shown on You Tube.

My thinking was that we would use the video for the Glen-L website which is long overdue for a facelift. Well, that task is more involved than I imagined and has been put on the backburner.

I don’t know about you, but when I have one thing in mind, I don’t always quickly transition to “Plan B”. The videos were intended for the new website, but hey, here’s a thought. Since that isn’t happening, why not use them for something else? How ’bout the Blog?

So, this will be the first of many interviews of boatbuilders taken at the 2009 Gathering that we’ll post on our blog. This first one features Bruce Dow of Canada. Bruce built the Glen-L Monaco which is a 19 foot inboard mahogany runabout that he shortened to 17′ 10″. 

The Monaco is built using cold molded construction. This method of boat construction is used when a boat has a convex or reverse curve at the bow or a round shape in which plywood can’t conform. The method involves laying strips of wood in layers at varying angles to each other. It’s sort of like making plywood in place. 

Future interviews will feature the Ski King, Sea Knight, Console Skiff, Malahini, Squirt and Double Eagle.

Bruce did a beautiful job building his Monaco and we’re quite proud of his work. Listen in as Bruce shares his experience…