Skywoods
Canoe Company

Skywoods@sover.net

Building and Restoring wood-canvas canoes and other small wooden boats

aBOUT Skywoods

Skywoods Canoe Company was founded by Scott Barkdoll in 1992 and specializes in the restoration and building of wood-canvas canoes and other small wooden boats.

At Skywoods we have restored over 200 antique wood-canvas canoes in the last 9 years. We also build new wood-canvas canoes. Our canoes have won 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place at the Les Cheneaux Islands Wooden Boat Show in Hessel, Michigan and Best Classic Small Craft at the Antique and Classic Boat Society Boats on the Boardwalk Show in Traverse City, Michigan. We relocated to Shoreham, VT in 2004.

Most of the wood used is cut and processed locally. We prefer and emphasize the use of native American woods which are easily renewed and not endangered.

Great attention is given to detail and to the care of each individual boat. As much history as is possible is obtained on each boat and care is taken to try to restore the boat to original condition even if multiple restorations or alterations have taken place.  

We carry a full range of restoration materials and information as well books, knowledge, and references about the history of wood canvas canoes.

Newly Built Osprey in the Sun
Red and white cedar construction with mahogany trim

Scott Barkdoll

I started working with wood before the age of 4. My first big project was a tree house which I built when I was about 4-5 years old. My father remembers that went from tree to tree to tree- often no more than 10 inches off the ground.

I have taught at the Michigan Maritime Museum and also do owner-builder tutorials at our shop in Shoreham, Vermont.