Welcome to Wayfarer Boatworks

We Design, Build, Restore, and Teach Boat Building & Maintenance.

Wayfarer Boatworks builds custom wooden boats. We build small dinghies and tenders but also build kayaks, paddleboards, canoes, and multiple variations of iceboats. Our boats are also available in kit form; unlike other kit manufacturers, we will teach you how to build them in person at your shop or in ours. Our materials are the highest grade and are provided exclusively by JLL Johnson Lumber in Charlotte. We use marine-grade Okoume plywood, white oak, and mahogany, and other specialty hardwoods. Contact us today to learn more about what Wayfarer Boatworks can do for you!

Our Services

  • Design

    If needed, I can assist you with custom hull designs, sails and rigging, or engine type needs to make sure that the you get the boat that takes care of your needs. Many of my interior my designs are modular. You can add custom built components, that you can remove or change out, to reconfigure a boat made for an overnight back country fly-fishing expedition to a runabout, that will get the entire family to their private beach picnic spot, using the same hull design.

  • Build

    The first step of the building process is to learn a bit about you so you I can get a better understanding of what your needs are to determine what kind of project is the best for you. Then we go to the drawing board and start making sketches and notes to choose or modify a set of plans plans so that you build a boat that suits all of your needs.

  • Restore

    The finish on the interior and exterior of the boat is dependent the attention given to the preparation, and the quality of the coatings you use. The application processes required can be very different. Over the years we have used many different types of coatings throughout this process we have perfected the application processes specific to each one, to get the best possible results out of the topside paint, bottom paint, varnishes, and fillers and fairing compounds. We restore wood so it will be beautiful but also last for many years.

  • Teach

    Over the last 30 yrs. of experience working with composites I can provide you with the knowledge and the materials to achieve the adequate strength and flexibility needed for the application, while concurrently, keeping weight and cost as low as possible. We can supply and teach you how to work with many different types of epoxy and polyester resins best suited for the application of fiberglass, carbon, and carbon/kevlar. We use traditional wet layup methods and vacuum bagging in certain applications.