Specializing in traditional building methods. The boats shown here are built on he Narrows basin using locally sourced, sustainably harvested materials. These boats are finished to a traditional fishing standard. All boats are painted inside with a traditional mix of pine tar and linseed oil for longevity. These boats are built to last and withstand daily family use. Timber frame, joinery, carving, design work available on commission
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Andrew Rhodenizer is a Journeyman boat builder living and working in Lunenburg County Nova Scotia. Since graduating from NSCAD University, Halifax, Andrew has worked full time as a wooden boat builder. Andrew has been involved with major projects on the South Shore including the construction of a 60' schooner designed and built by David Westergard in the Tancook vernacular and the rebuild of the Howard Mason built schooner Amasonia at Lutwick Yachts, originally built on Tancook in 1934. Rhodenizer has also worked in the Lunenburg Dory shop and in collaboration with other boat builders on the South Shore.
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Rhodenizer continues to build wooden boats in his boatshop in The Narrows, Lunenburg County, N.S.
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Randolph Rhodenizer, originally from Tancook Island, was known for being a shipwright and an independent boatbuilder in Mahone Bay. The half-models and designs for Randy's boats still survive today and have provided me with inspiration and insight into the kinds of lines that were successful in the working hulls of our area. The building of boats is something that has brought my family together over the years. My mother's stepfather, Steven Slaunwhite, was a boat designer/builder from Mahone Bay, she takes an interest in seeing continuance of his craft and my father shares much of what he learned from his father with me as we build traditional boats at home and now in my own shop on the Narrows Basin.
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Family boats built by family people
On first glance one might say that this aesthetic is somewhat 'rougher' but on closer examination and experience with the boats it is clear that these boats are finished with a focus on wood preservation, ecological sensitivity and practicality. The treatments used are all traditional mixes of high pigment natural paints pine tars and oils.
While the "No Yachts Allowed" sign is done with tongue firmly planted in cheek it is meant to allude to the usage of the boats primarily worked on at this shop. The designs for all new builds at the shop thus far have been traditional designs often generations old with heavy usage and seakindlyness in mind. Ultimately these are the kinds of boats that a family can row, sail and motor for fishing, pleasure and any occasion; to find the hideaways or hop to the islands and create the kind of unprecious memories without pretense that life on the water represents to so many of us. It's important to us that you can have peace of mind that the materials used in these boats will have the lowest impact possible on the environment that they are used in.