Southport Magazine

By Becky Locke

“Anyone who has designed and built their own kayak will tell you there is nothing like the feeling you get when you take the boat you’ve created out for the first time,” Aaron Locke, founder of Washington Wood Craft LLC, of Leland, says. “That feeling is extremely rewarding and never gets old.”

Washington Wood Craft LLC has developed a program, Stitch-N-Glue Pro, for the everyday do-it-yourself builder, novice and professional alike. The program allows the user to design kayaks, rowboats, canoes and other small vessels according to their own specific requirements, specifications and artistic preferences. Once designed, the user can print plans to start building their own boat. The website provides detailed instructions on how to design a sturdy craft as well as using the program.

It was Locke’s mission to provide a platform that is user-friendly for the easier of two methods (stitch and glue vs. strip built) to build watercraft. The panels in a stitch-and-glue kayak require very precise shapes in order for them to fit together correctly. Because of this, it used to be very difficult to incorporate curved, organic-looking lines into the design. Stitch-N-Glue Pro does that automatically.

Future plans include free updates as the program evolves, as demand deems it necessary, and new features are added. The program itself costs $150 per user license.

Washington Wood Craft will be exhibiting at the Southport Wooden Boat Show on Sept. 18^th in the Old Yacht Basin, as well as at South Carolina’s Georgetown Wooden Boat Show on Oct. 19^th. For more information, please contact Becky Locke at (724) 678-7275 or rcav1980@aol.com, or visit www.washingtonwoodcraft.com.