Introducing Fyne Boat Kits, Our European Partner
We’ve helped builders all around the world make their own canoes, kayaks, and small boats. We regularly field questions about wood choice, which models to choose for specific conditions, and recommended materials. Offering that kind of advice has become second nature, so often the really tricky questions involve how to ship large, heavy, or unusually sized packages to far-flung locations. Enter our partners at Fyne Boat Kits, the official distributor of Bear Mountain products in the UK and Europe.
The seasoned folks at Fyne have been in the business for over twenty years, preparing both ready-built boats and DIY kits. Their expertise runs the gamut from canoes to sailboats to paddleboards, so we have confidence that European customers considering a Bear Mountain design are in good hands. We can also vouch for the quality of their precision-cut materials, prepared in Fyne’s facility in the UK Lake District.
We have always encouraged builders to use whatever materials make the best ecological and economic sense, and Fyne’s unique approach to kits allows them to produce affordable kits to a high standard. As full-length western red cedar strips grow increasingly expensive even in North America, European-grown paulownia has emerged as a regional alternative. Paulownia is both faster growing and lighter than western red cedar, with characteristics that adapt well to boatbuilding. In addition to the usual bead-and-cove profile, Fyne’s strips include a pre-cut finger joint to allow them to be easily assembled at home, and their shorter length results in a substantial savings on shipping.
If you’d like to see inside the Fyne workshop yourself, they post regular updates on their Instagram and Facebook profiles. We encourage customers from Europe and the UK to visit the Fyne website knowing they’ll find everything they need for a Bear Mountain-style boat closer to home. While we’re at it, we also encourage builders to send us shots of their paulownia craft—we can't wait to see what’s coming out of workshops across the pond. Sincerely,
The Bear Mountain Team
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