Builder Stories: Ranger 15 Sebastian Colson

Builder Stories is a feature where we share photos and stories from builders in their words. Today we're showcasing the beautiful work of Sebastian Colson.

Sebastian writes:

"As for my canoe story: we recently moved from Brussels to Ghent, which is a beautiful medieval town with plenty of canoeing possibilities. So when my wife Klara got pregnant I decided I also wanted a "9-month project." I got the cedar strips pre-milled from a boat builder called Simon Davids. He's a very friendly guy and has a workshop in the Netherlands (https://www.macboat.nl/overMacboat.htm).

With no woodworking experience at all I was really impressed by the level of detail and at the same time simplicity of Ted's instructions in "Canoecraft". Also the video's of Nick Offerman were a real help, together with all the tips from the folks on the builder's forum like Randy Pfeifer and Jim Dodd. In the end it took me a bit more than 9 months (and about 400 hours of work) but, as they say, it's not the destination but the journey that matters. And in the and I'm really happy with the result. As for the name "Trudi"... when Klara was pregnant we didn't know the gender so we would talk about the baby as Rudi or Trudi, just because we thaught these names were kind of funny. In the end we called her Paula and the canoe became Trudi 🙂. I have added a few extra pictures of her "baptism".

Thank you so much for helping me realize this dream... Best regards from Belgium,

Sebastian, Klara and Paula"

Ranger 15 by Sebastian Colson