Riddle Boatworks

Riddle Boatworks Riddle Boatworks
Charleston, South Carolina
Website: RiddleBoatworks.net Cold-molded wood-epoxy construction techniques make that possible.

I am a custom boatbuilder in Charleston, SC with over 35 years of experience building, repairing and restoring both wood composite and traditionally built boats of all types. In today’s world, craftsmanship and attention to detail has often given way to mere manufacturing efficiency. The folly of that approach is that it often results in structures and systems that are difficult and costly to main

tain and repair. By contrast, my philosophy is to design and execute my projects with intentional focus on longevity, ease of maintenance, aesthetics, and craftsmanship. I invite you to contact me to discuss a custom boat project of your own.

We just finished our last repair on the Spirit of South Carolina project. Pictures on the left show before and after of ...
08/08/2023

We just finished our last repair on the Spirit of South Carolina project. Pictures on the left show before and after of our Hawse pipe repair, new plank section, repair to damaged edge of adjacent plank, and replace section of outer ring. She's ready for paint now, which will be handled by the ship's maintenance crew. Wishing you fair winds and following seas Spirit!

07/27/2023

We are closing in on the completion of the Spirit of South Carolina tall ship repair project. In keeping with the original traditional construction, we are caulking the covering board seam with cotton and seam compound. The ship's maintenance crew will be handling the paint and finish work.

A reminder for our newest Riddle Boatworks team member: Never get behind the wheel if you've had more than two juice box...
07/14/2023

A reminder for our newest Riddle Boatworks team member: Never get behind the wheel if you've had more than two juice boxes.

We are continuing the repair work on the tall ship, Spirit of South Carolina, which was damaged in Charleston Harbor dur...
07/06/2023

We are continuing the repair work on the tall ship, Spirit of South Carolina, which was damaged in Charleston Harbor during a recent storm. Today we drilled a series of holes and cut the “web” between holes to remove the bulk of the damaged wood, then pared the remaining “webs” off to make a flat face to fit and glue the repair to.

The Spirit of South Carolina is a 91’ schooner (140’ including bowsprit and main boom). Her port covering board (outer e...
07/02/2023

The Spirit of South Carolina is a 91’ schooner (140’ including bowsprit and main boom). Her port covering board (outer edge of the deck) was damaged by a larger ship rafted alongside when a 70 mph storm came across Charleston Harbor a month or so ago. We were contracted to do the repair.

It’s a fairly simple repair but is made more difficult by the confined space in which to work (we wanted to accomplish the repair without removing other elements of the construction around it). We devised a method and process to do that, and it’s working out as planned.

We should be fitting the new wood in another day or so and any holdup will only be on account of rain. So we’re keeping our fingers crossed for another week or so of dry weather!

This 58’ sport fisherman had a run-in with a piling during a recent hurricane.
03/07/2021

This 58’ sport fisherman had a run-in with a piling during a recent hurricane.

Repair of hurricane damage on the 58’ sport fisherman in progress.
03/07/2021

Repair of hurricane damage on the 58’ sport fisherman in progress.

20' Center Console, Ocracoke 20B, custom build in progress.
07/06/2017

20' Center Console, Ocracoke 20B, custom build in progress.

09/22/2016

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Charleston, SC

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Our Story

We are a wooden boat shop on the south shore of Lake Erie, repairing, restoring and building all manner of wooden boats. Our favorite projects are the ones that leave the shop looking brand new. Speaking of brand new, we are shifting our focus to all new wood boat construction. With an ability to work in both traditional construction and modern wood-epoxy techniques, we are looking forward to building a variety of custom and semi-custom boats, whether brand new designs fresh off the drawing board or vintage work from a museum archive. A number of designs we like are shown on our website in both power and sail, and we'll keep adding to that list as we acquire designs. Click on the "Power Designs" and "Sail Designs" tabs on the website to go to the gallery of designs. See below for our web address. And while you're there, our Gallery page features a number of projects that show some of the work we've done over time. Hope you enjoy the site! Feel free to get back to me with any questions or comments.