There are many fine canoe builders in the membership of the WCHA. Some of these are full-time builders who earn their living from the craft they so enjoy. Others are part-time hobbiests who yearn to someday be able to quit their fast-paced life and join these select full-time builders. Most will never make the transition. In the process, many fine boats get built, and that's good for all of us. The tradition of hand crafted personal watercraft continues in these very special people. The WCHA salutes them here in these pages, and in our journal.
The builders in the WCHA are some of the most helpful and friendliest people you will ever meet. Most are open and honest, often sharing trade secrets with one another in the brotherhood that is canoe builders. Visit their catalogs online in the Online Builders & Suppliers section, or the listing of builders in the WCHA Builders & Suppliers Directory. Wherever you find wooden canoe builders, you generally find special people indeed.
The WCHA sells many books that will help you to build a canoe (See WCHA Merchandise), but our most treasured resource is our membership, and the wonderful builders among it. They come and share their knowledge at the Annual Assembly each year, they share each and every issue in Wooden Canoe Journal, and are online every day in our Discussion Forums. If you need help with a particularly difficult operation on a canoe you are building, many are also available to help over the phone - even though they have their own businesses to run and this takes them directly away from that task.
If you are in the market for a wooden canoe and would like to have one built in the finest style, and of the finest craftsmanship, just ask one of our builders to build it for you. Do your homework and check their references to make sure that the builder you have chosen, will build the canoe that is just right for you.
Please Note: The WCHA does not endorse any specific builder, nor does it imply endorsement by allowing our member/builders to list their services in these pages. We make every attempt to ensure that builders fairly represent their business, however as an all-volunteer, member organization, there are always a occasions when a transaction will not please all parties, and a builder may misrepresent his services or abilities. We encourage you to check references carefully before entering into a financial transaction.