LOCALadk Magazine

LOCALadk 21 desire for lightness, to have a boat one person could carry over a portage trail a mile or more, and you find the requirements for an all-around Adirondack boat. To meet this tall order, the early builders took inspiration from the colonial bateaux, using strong sawn ribs to set the shape of the guide- boat. They sourced the curved timbers from the roots of the abundant red spruce. They rounded out the wide-bottomed row boats of the coast- al regions and slimmed their waterlines, while keeping the boat wide at the gunwales. This made the guideboat fast and steady in challeng- ing conditions, while providing a platform for the strongest form of human-powered propul- sion, rowing. Guideboat oars were thinned and lengthened to give it the most leverage pos- sible, requiring a special cross-handed rowing technique that is still seen in competition row- ing sculls today. William Martin and Caleb Chase innovated a new style of planking for the guideboat in the 1860s. They took the lapstrake-sided boats and beveled each plank to a feathered edge on both sides. This made the guideboat smooth-skinned, which became the standard not only among guideboats, but in all recreational watercraft to this day. Chase continued development by mak- ing the guideboat double ended, pulling inspira- tion from the canoes of Indigenous Peoples, still in use by hunters and trappers in the region. By the 1870s the guideboat was the fastest and most capable boat on Adirondack waters, and its timing couldn't have been better. Urban visitors, or "Sports" as they were then called, soon began flocking to the Adirondacks in search of game and fish, marking the beginning of tourism in the region. Guideboats were further refined for the Sports. Planking was thinned to an extreme 3/16" thickness, or about a hair thicker than a matchstick. A 16-foot standard length was found to be perfectly suited to carry a Sport, their gear, catch, hound, and the first Adirondack guides to reveal the hidden corners of the then unmapped forests. Even better, the Sport had little work to do other than fish and relax while they watched their guide row. These were the guideboat's hey- days, and for a few precious decades, it enjoyed its mastery of the Adirondack waters. This all begs the question, where did they go? What happened to the guideboat? Why are they such a rare sight on our waters today? One reason can be seen in the craft that emerge each spring. Be it a canoe, kayak, pack canoe, or paddleboard, they all share something in common; they all use a paddle, not an oar. Oars require the user to sit facing backwards, Top: Nathaniel rows a recently restored guideboat on Lake Plac- id. Photo credit: Troy Tetrault Above: The tools of the trade. Photo credit: Jonathan Zaharek Opposite: Nathaniel puts the finishing touches on a guideboat restoration. Photo credit: Jonathan Zaharek

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