Shantyboat
2012-2014

Starting in 2012 I spent nights and weekends building a flat-bottomed river boat in a friend’s backyard, based on designs developed by people living on rivers in the early 1900’s. In 2014 we launched the Dotty on her maiden voyage, floating down the upper reaches of the Mississippi.

My then-partner turned it into his masters’ thesis and eventually an ongoing project, which is documented at peoplesriverhistory.us.

We built the boat with mostly scavenged materials. This hazardous falling-down chicken coop turned into hundreds of board feet of old growth redwood planks for the boat. We built the boat with mostly scavenged materials. This hazardous falling-down chicken coop turned into hundreds of board feet of old growth redwood planks for the boat.
Building the frame that would support the hull of the boat. Building the frame that would support the hull of the boat.
Prepping for the final layer of fiberglass on the hull. Prepping for the final layer of fiberglass on the hull.
Launch party! After two years, we Launch party! After two years, we'd finished the damn boat (with the help of our friends and family).
The Mississippi has a series of public locks and dams, which were pretty terrifying at first. The Mississippi has a series of public locks and dams, which were pretty terrifying at first.
At night we At night we'd just run the boat up on a beach. This was our first night out on the river, pulled up in the middle of Minneapolis even though it looks like wilderness.