Stu Clough has been restoring and building boats for many years. Lately he has built several cedar strip skiffs.
Below is his latest creation.
Sometime in the 1920’s, according to family lore, Fred Mann bought a cottage on Grenell Island. He subsequently planted little cedar trees along his lot line. The little trees flourished over the years. One of these trees stood at the southeast corner of the porch of the house which, ironically, a few generations later, became known as the Skiff House.
That tree grew into the Miss Katie D. With help from a few other trees, including a Grenell Island Ash.
She is an authentic Grenell Island skiff, so called because she was born and will live on the island.
Building forms for the skiff, which were inspired by the offsets for the St. Lawrence skiff Annie, were purchased at the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, New York. Annie was a 17’8” Bain skiff built around 1895
You can expect to see the Miss Katie D plying the waters around Grenell Island as soon as summer arrives.