Traditional Boats - East and West - at Douglas Brooks Boatbuilding

Douglas Brooks is a boatbuilder, writer and researcher, specializing in wooden boats built to traditional Western and Japanese designs. My research work involves documenting the design secrets and techniques of traditional Japanese boatbuilding, working directly with Japan's last wooden boatbuilders. I also research the boatbuilding traditions of the Lake Champlain Basin where I live. http://www.douglasbrooksboatbuilding.com COPYRIGHT © Douglas Brooks and douglasbrooksboatbuilding.com 2016.

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Two Suns

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Today I had an inspiration for a bit of political/artistic treatment of our boat.  I installed the toko today, the large beam that spans t...

Bengali Launching

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Last weekend saw the launching of the Bengali boat.  We had a good crowd with the Bengali craftspeople there singing and dancing.  The Ben...

Uwadana

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Uwadana means “upper shelf” and refers to the top plank, or sheerstrake.  Like all of our planking these are taken symmetrically from the ...

Bengali Shipwrights, again

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These two men deserve their own blog, certainly, but I am more than happy to keep readers abreast of what they are doing.  Their work is f...
Saturday, August 17, 2013

Seto Nai Kai Museum

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Its been about a week since I put up a posting, but expect a flurry of them now.  Later today we have the launching of the Bengali boat.  ...
Friday, August 9, 2013

Improvisation

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One of the things that has struck me about Japanese boatbuilding is the degree to which during the construction of a boat the builder make...
Monday, August 5, 2013

Fitting the kajiki

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The first plank on the boat is called the kajiki.  In the West we would call this the garboard plank.  After propping it securely in place...
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Douglas Brooks
I am a boatbuilder, writer and researcher with a special interest in traditional Japanese boatbuilding. Since 1996 I have apprenticed with nine boatbuilders throughout Japan, building and documenting the designs and construction of over a dozen distinct types of Japanese boats. My research involves working directly with craftsmen in order to document their secrets and techniques. In my view this work is crucial, as Japan's last traditional boatbuilders leave little or no written record of their work and most have no apprentices. This work is chronicled in my latest book, Japanese Wooden Boatbuilding, published in 2015 by Floating World Editions. Signed and inscribed copies are available from my website. Here in the US I build wooden boats for private clients and as education projects for museums and municipalities. I also teach boatbuilding and I am researching the boats and boatbuilding traditions of the Lake Champlain Basin where I live. I write for WoodenBoat magazine, among other publications. Please visit my website: www.douglasbrooksboatbuilding.com COPYRIGHT NOTICE © Douglas Brooks and douglasbrooksboatbuilding.com 2020.
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