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River's
Touch Friends |
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Harold Dynamite Payson
is a grand master of small wooden boat construction, modeling and story
telling. He has served as my mentor over the years, and it was Dynamite who
talked me into recovering the McKenzie and Rogue River boats that had either
been, or were in danger of being lost to time. Age and circumstance are
catching up with both of us and it is because of Dynamite that I have
retained my tactile approach to the laying down of lines, modeling and boat
building. Dynamite is a legend in his own time, and people seek him out from
around the world for his plans and his knowledge. Our collaborations span
the continent from my shop in Oregon to his shop in Maine. |
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A.J.
DeRosa's Wooden Boat River Tours. Located in Jackson Hole, A.J.
and his crew of professional guides offer unique, comfortable and
elegant river experiences on the Snake. His boats are all historic McKenzie
re-creations. A drift boat historian in his own right, A.J. finds, secures
and restores historic McKenzie River drift boats. He and his Jackson
compatriots tackle a boat per winter and usually bring the restored craft to
the McKenzie river boat show the last Saturday in April. |
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Ray Heater and Cyrus Happy,
Rays
River Dories. Ray is, to my knowledge, the only remaining frame
construction drift boat builder who relies on his boat building business for
his livelihood. Both Ray and Cy are craftsmen par excellence. This business
is also unique in that they are the only providers of the popular rapid
Robert, a uniquely dual purpose riverboat. Ray and Cy offer drift boat kits
and boats built to order. The duo maintain shops in Sandy and Portland,
Oregon. |
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Dad and son, Randy and Sandy Dersham, own and
operate
McKenzie River Drift
Boats. They also offer the popular Tatman Boats, having recently
purchased Greg Tatman's business. They offer a variety of drift boats
options and with my permission they offer several kits of the originals that
appear in my book, Drift Boats and River Dories. Randy and
Sandy also host a very popular drift
boat forum and
blog for drift boat aficionados. Equally important, they host the annual
McKenzie River drift boat show and river parade on the the last Saturday in
April (April 24, 2010). |
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Jasun Cajune of Livingston, Montana has set
the high-bar for stitch and glue constructed boats at
Montana Boat
Builders. His exquisite boats can be
commissioned, and in recent years Jason has begun to offer boat kits. While
he appreciates the history of these boats as evolved through frame
construction, he has added his own designs and ingenuity through the
technology of stitch and glue construction. |
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Sandy Pittendrigh of Bozeman, Montana owns
and operates
Montana Riverboats. His popular boat plans (stitch and glue
construction) are offered on line through subscription. In addition, he is a
notorious fly tier, great story teller, and hosts the very informative and
popular boat
builders' forum. Forum participants are generally interested in stitch
and glue construction, but there is interest for everybody. |
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Brad Dimock is an author, river historian,
wooden boat aficionado and Colorado River Guide. He owns and operates
Fretwater Press,
a small, independent publishing firm that offers unique biographies, logs
and novels about icons of the Colorado. Brad co-authored The Doing of
the Thing, the Brief, Brilliant White Water career of Buzz Holmstrom,
and it was this book and the successful effort to resurrect Buzz's boat, the
Julius, that brought Brad and I together. Noted, among other things, for his
bad hair days, he is best known for his little publishing house, author, as
a river guide, historian, and now, boat builder. . |
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 The
happy Trout |
Dave Zielinski is a fly fisher, bird hunter,
home drift boat builder, and wonderful friend who tested then efficacy of
one my boats that appears in my book, The Trapper. More important, he
is the proud dad of three little girls, all of whom are growing fast. Check
out his
blog,
and learn of the "life and times of a fly fishing junkie." He raises bees
too. |
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 Kenny,
Kelsey, Dave |
Dave Helfrich is the oldest son of famed McKenzie
River guide, Prince Helfrich. Dave was an invaluable resource in my search
for the original boats and the stories of the people behind them. Like his
dad, Dave started guiding at a young age and the river has been his life.
His son, Kenny recently took over the family business and both he and his
daughter, Kelsey, continue the Helfrich legacy. Guides par excellence are
all three. |
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Our friends at
Travel Oregon, the "official travel guide to
Oregon," is a site that highlights the wonders and travel opportunities of
this great state, and especially, Grant McOmie, creator and presenter of
Grant's Getaways. This feature is presented weekly on Portland's KGW- 8,
and he recently featured the
All Oregon Boat. Grant's enthusiasm for the
out-of-doors, our Oregon heritage and the value of both preservation,
restoration and history of things wild and beautiful such as Oregon's rivers
and drift boats, makes him a darn good friend. |
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