HOWB 048 – John Welsford, wooden boat designer, builder, enthusiast - Interview - 08.16.12

This episode is an interview I did with John Welsford while at the NW School of Wooden Boat Building’s 31st anniversary celebration. I met John for the first time that day, and he was more than agreeable when I asked if I could interview him for HOWB. So we sat down for almost an hour of recording, and I was having the time of my life!

John is a native of New Zealand and loves his country. Boatbuilding is in John’s genes – as far back as his dad could research, there is a boatbuilder in each generation of the family. And John is a descendant of the Denny’s of the William Denny and Brothers Ship Building Company of Scotland. Denny and brothers built the Denny Ship Model Experiment Tank in 1882 (which is part of a museum exhibit now).

At the young age of 7, John spent every holiday with his grand dad who worked for a one man boat builder – Philip Lange. John learned to whittle, plank and take care of heavy equipment during those days at Lange’s shop. John’s first boat build as a youth was made from corrugated roofing iron (hull), firewood (stems and thwarts) and tar scraped off the road for caulking. As a young married man he built a 21ʹ light displacement sloop with a Flying Dutchman rig.

One day a friend came to John with plans for a boat he was going to build. John looked at the plans and told his buddy it wasn’t suited to his needs. His friend challenged John – modify the plans to get me a better boat, and if it works I will give you my Stanley 55 Molding plane. John still has the Stanley plane to this day and he has been designing boats ever since!

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You can contact me at [email protected] to share your comments, feedback, stories, and wooden boat adventures.

Keep the bright side up and the barnacled side down - Wooden Boat Dan over and out :D

PS Please note this podcast was recorded several years ago - some of the links, email addresses, phone numbers, and promos mentioned are outdated and no longer valid.