RiversWest Small Craft Center
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What's New

2023 Family Boat Build

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We are now accepting applications for our annual Family Boat Build event, which will be held June 24-25 at the event space at Green Anchors, which is also the site of our boat shop.

This is our 13th year of hosting this event, which gives families an opportunity to build a 12' rowing skiff in the span of a weekend. Past participants have thoroughly enjoyed the event, and ended up with a boat they can use to enjoy the water with for years to come.

The event usually fills up fairly quickly, so go to the signup page, fill out an application and get your check in soon.

More info here.

Boat kits for sale

RiversWest has recently received generous contributions of boat building kits, and a few other miscellaneous items. These are all available for purchase to RiversWest members, pricing is negotiable though we generally sell as-new items at 1/2 retail price.

If one of these boat kits strikes your fancy, you can easily save the cost of our annual membership dues (which will cover the remainder of 2022 and all of 2023). Also, if you wish to build one of these kits at our shop, we can make a special deal on the cost of renting building space
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Pygmy "Taiga Wilderness Tripper Canoe

From a Canoe & Kayak review: ”After years of designing and producing stitch-and-glue touring kayak kits, John Lockwood now offers a canoe for the paddler/builder. The finished product draws admiring stares from passersby, and it handles well on the water, too. The canoe nearly resembles a lapstrake boat, or better yet, a wooden version of fabric stretched over an internal frame. But there's no internal frame. But there’s no internal frame, and the “fabric” is wood veneer.”

http://www.pygmyboats.com/boats/taiga-canoe-kit.html
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Jo Woodwork "Oz Goose Sailboat"
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“Simple to build, fast and stable to sail for learners – teacher and two adult students below. Light and responsive for more advanced sailors.” 

​https://www.jowoodworks.com/boatkits/kit-oz-goose-sailboat/
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"Eureka Canoe"

“The Eureka Canoe is the result of a collaboration between Duck Flat Wooden Boats in Adelaide and Michael Storer Design. It is built stitch and glue - a simple method where the panels are cut out and stitched together temporarily while the joins are sealed with fibreglass tape.

Generally fibreglass boats come in at about double the weight of this one and don't come anything close to being classic paddling boats. The Eureka has demonstrated that it goes a long way with modest effort and tracks well when the waves and wind are up.”

Plans from Ductworks, below. We are selling a kit of parts cut from these plans.
 
https://duckworks.com/eureka-canoe-plans/

Event calendar

And - here is another event calendar you might be interested in, published by Oregon Coots

http://coots.org/mb/index.html
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Donate to RiversWest

You can make a tax deductible donation to RiversWest right here on our website, using PayPal or a credit or debit card.

Become a member

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2010 Family Boat Build
Learn now to become a member here.​​

Since 1991, RiversWest Small Craft Center has been promoting the use of sustainable, beautiful boats built to operate on the human scale. For some of our members, that means restoring historically correct wooden boats. For others, it is a chance to design and build with the support and input of a like-minded group.

Many enjoy the camaraderie of "messing about" on the water. We all benefit from the chance to learn from one another. We are often inspired to get our hands busy building, paddling, rowing, motoring, or sailing small craft. 

RiversWest members enjoy:
  • Access to a wood shop and rental spaces for boat building and repairs.
  • Workshops in boat building, maritime crafts, and tool making.
  • Boating related social functions

RiversWest Library catalog online

RiversWest has an extensive library of books in our boat shop, oriented mainly to maritime topics. Books are available for members to borrow at any time.

We are in the process of creating an online catalog of titles to make it easier to find a title that you might be interested in. Check back occasionally as our catalog grows.

Member payments

Space rental payments click here.
​Membership renewal payments here.

Boat Plans at RiversWest

RiversWest owns a large collection of boat building plans which are available to members. We have recently completed a catalog of the plans which can be viewed. Contact the club for a spreadsheet of this catalog if you want to more easily search for plans that might meet your build criteria.
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Visit the RiversWest YouTube channel

We have a small number of videos in our channel, but we will be adding more as we record demonstrations at the shop. Visit the channel here.

Crater Lake boats are still available

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The two 40' Atkin designed launches, that were built for and originally used on Crater Lake, are still available to anyone willing and able to take them off our hands. More details here

Subscribe to our mailing list

You can unsubscribe at any time!

Open House
First and Third Saturdays

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The RiversWest shop is open to all every First and Third Saturday. Stop by to talk to our members, tour the shop, and get a free cup of coffee and a donut.

Some Open House meetings will also include a demonstration. These will be announced in an email a few days before the meeting, and will be listed on our calendar.

If you aren't on our email list, you can subscribe up above.

Newsletters

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You can find our newsletters here

Links

Willamette Sailing Club
Oregon Maritime Museum
Crosscut Hardwood
​US Distributing
Tacoma Screw
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Connect with us on Facebook, or via email
Our boat shop address is 
8940 N Bradford St
​Portland, OR 97203

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