Martin brothers a job at their new location,
but after careful consideration, the
brothers turned it down to stay in Vermont
and to keep doing what they loved in their
home state.
After leaving Mad River Canoe in 2001,
Ian and Justin began working at Adirondack
Guideboat, where they apprenticed
under former owners Steve Kaulback
and David Rosen. Here, they learned
the intricacies and subtleties of wooden
boatmaking and transitioned from the
fast-paced production of composite boats
to the slower pace of the pair’s Adirondack
Guideboat operation. The Martin brothers
took this time to strengthen their boatbuilding
skills, learning crucial nuances of
the craft and refining their woodworking
abilities. Eleven years later, in 2012, David
Rosen sold the company to Justin and
Ian, one year after Steve Kaulback stepped
away. The Martin brothers grabbed the
reins with enthusiasm.
Ian and Justin pride themselves on the versatility
and efficiency of their boatmaking
process. When they first started at Adirondack
Guideboat, Justin recalls, “There were
less than 100 synthetic Kevlar boats made
per year. Since then, we’ve greatly increased
those production numbers to more
than 300 during our biggest year to date.
We used to just focus on composite boatbuilding
at Mad River Canoe, but working
here at Adirondack Guideboat—and now
owning the business—has certainly made
it so that we’ve gotten to know it all. We’ve
probably built 50 to 60 wooden boats now,
as well as more than 3,500 Kevlar boats.”
To construct their Kevlar boats, the
brothers begin by building the hull in a
custom-built boat mold. First, the sides of
the mold are cleaned to prevent damage to
the hull, they then dry-fit a 6-ounce fiberglass
cloth into the mold, and hand-roll a
pigmented polyester resin evenly into the
cloth. The resin soaks through the porous
fiberglass cloth, where the smooth surface
of the mold gives it a bold and lustrous
finish as it hardens overnight, forming the
shape of the hull. After the initial polyester
resin skin coat, two layers of Kevlar are
applied, as well as structural pieces, adding
strength and durability to the boat frame.
When the skin coat and Kevlar dry, flotation
tanks and seat risers are added in, and
the interior is finished with a gel coat.
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