Adirondack Guideboats

Before we left for AA, the new leaders were required to watch a documentary on the history and culture of the Adirondacks, which became my first introduction to the Adirondack guideboats. In this documentary, they introduced the guideboats as beautifully crafted, lightweight wooden boats that were invented and constructed in the Adirondacks. Earlier this fall, I visited my friend’s grandparents’ summer house on Lake Placid, and I was shown their pride and joy; a real Adirondack guideboat. I also learned that Andrew Jillings had done the 90-Miler in an Adirondack Guideboat several times, furthering my interest in the boats. So, for my first blog entry, I chose to explore the history and the importance of these beautiful wooden boats.

            The boats are rowing skiffs; small, shallow boats that one man propels using two oars. The rower faces the stern of the boat and pulls on the two eight-foot oars that are secured to the boat through oarlocks. The boats, traditionally painted dark green or brown to camouflage into the surrounding environment, are now highly varnished and more works of art than a hunter’s tool. The guideboats’ name developed as tourism expanded in the Adirondacks, when hunters who used the boats to support themselves began to use the boats to guide outsiders on hunting trips.

            Although commonly mistaken as Native American boat-building practices, the guideboat-building method is European in ancestry. The guideboats are made out of two main woods: Red Spruce and Eastern White Pine. Early builders, observing the natural bend of spruce roots, saw that the curve of the roots were perfectly matched to the curve of a hull of a boat. They dug up stumps of spruce trees and fashioned the ribs for the boat, carefully sawing out the natural turn of the root grain. The White Pine, which grows straight and clear and is easily worked by hand, was used to fashion the planking for the boats. By overlapping the planks by about one-quarter of an inch, they made a watertight fit, creating an entirely hand-made boat.

            The first, comparatively crude guideboats appeared around the 1830’s as a revolution for their time. They quickly became a principle mode of travel and transportation of goods through the Adirondacks. From 1940-1860, these boats went through several changes. The first change involved thinning the ribs and planks and smoothing the planks, which shaved a significant amount of weight off the boats. The boats were capable of carrying loads up to a thousand pounds, and after this thinning weighed only around 80 pounds themselves. During the “Gilded Age” of the Adirondacks, from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s, the boat was refined, narrowed, and shaved into the sleek and beautifully finished craft that it is today.

            After the 1930’s, and the invention of more modern boats, the popularity of the guideboats fell. Historically, over 20 builders were scattered around the park, whereas today there are three builders still in business. While the boats are no longer used for hunting or transporting goods, their recreational pull has kept the art alive. The guideboats are beautiful representations of the unique culture and history of the Adirondacks.  

“History of the Adirondack Guideboat”. Adirondack Guideboats. Woodward Boatshop; 2009. Web. Accessed January 31, 2016.