Arts In Crafts

Shouldn't we be as beautiful as the world we pass through? That’s the question posed by Stephen Morris’ hand built wooden canoes and kayaks, fusions of beauty and utility whose rich hues and elegant lines evoke river the way a hot-air balloon evokes cloud. You can take these boats out of the water, but you can’t take the water out of these boats.

Morris wasn't always a boat builder, though he's always had boats his parents gave him his first canoe when he was 13, and he remembers sailing it around Raritan Bay, off the coast of Staten Island, with homemade sails. Building boats, though, is something he decided to investigate only recently, when facing retirement from his previous life as probation director for Ulster County. The change has done wonders for Morris’ image. "Instead of saying ‘I’m in crime,’ which is what I used to say, I say ‘I’m a boat builder’."

Morris didn't apprentice to a master boat builder. He learned his craft, so to speak, mostly through reading. "It’s almost impossible to make a living building boats," he explains. "But some people have discovered that you can make money writing about boats." Morris Boat Works—the acronym, MBW, plays on that of a well-known German auto manufacturer—basically uses standard designs. What’s stunning about these boats is their composition. Strips of white pine accentuate their flowing lines, standing out like racing stripes against darker cedar hulls and hardwood frames of cherry, ash, mahogany or walnut. A small Morris canoe is composed of 42 narrow wood strips, warped on a frame and edge-glued; for a kayak he uses marine mahogany plywood. Brass stem bands protect against rocks, and the keels are finished with a graphite-epoxy abrasion-resistant shell. Morris makes his own paddles as well, emphasizing lightweight woods.

The building process requires much time but few materials one boat takes up to 200 hours, but can be made out of two 1 X 8 X 12 cedar planks and one plank of white pine. Morris buys all his wood locally, and has returned with his creations to the lumber yard to show what he makes out of materials other people use for closet shelves.

Morris sells his small craft for $1,400 and up. More than one person, upon seeing his boats, has considered buying one for the living room—but these sculptures are made for movement. To contact Morris Boat Works, call 679-9423.