On May 5th of this year Eagle Bay Boats showed our two newly finished Cruiser kayaks at the North Carolina Maritime Museum Wooden Boat Show in Beaufort, N.C. This show is always the first weekend in May and this was our second year showing at this event. Beaufort is an excellent town for such an event. The North Carolina Maritime Museum is centrally located and there is a large wooden boat making school facility across from the museum and on the waterfront. There are great bars and restaurants right along the waterfront. I highly recommend attending if you are in the area next year.
Last year I met a fascinating person named Mason. He knows more about canoe and kayak making than I ever will, including the importance of the Adirondack water craft to the history of the area. Mason was born and raised within 30 miles of Beaufort North Carolina. He had read the book about Nesmuk, who chronicled his canoe adventures in the Adirondacks in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Mason is a master.
He has made over 30 boats and has not sold or given away any of them. He was a kind and helpful person. He taught me so much, and I applied these lessons in the building of the next set of boats. I was excited to see Mason this year but, much to my disappointment, he was not there this year.
I am hoping he will be there next year. He is likely working on his next show boat, boat #31. It is worth noting that he won crowd favorite.