June 14, 2000

Form following function

Larry Bordine builds custom wood kayaks and canoes

By Garret Leiva
Herald editor
While no scientific studies exist, it is a fairly safe assumption that most mechanical engineers don't listen to Dick Dale surf guitar music while on the job.
Larry Bordine, however, is far from a straight edge mechanical engineer. Instead, he builds artfully engineered boats where form follows function across Lake Michigan - or anywhere else waters flow. Besides, what else would you expect a former bodysurfing Californian to listen to while at work?

Photo by Garret Leiva
Larry Bordine works on one of his creations.

"I'm in the process of building a surf boat specifically designed for Great Lakes waves. So I thought, 'hey, if I'm designing a surf boat, I need surf music to catch the mood,'" said Bordine, shouting above the Beach Boys' "Surfin' Safari" filling his Old Mission boat shop.
While the surf boat remains on the drawing board, the floor of Bordine's workshop is covered with cedar, pine and redwood shavings - the result of months of boat building. Throughout the converted chicken barn, kayaks rest on handmade boat stands awaiting sanding, gluing or a coating of epoxy. Each craft seeking the handiwork of its creator.
While the doors to Bordine's Grand Traverse Boatworks opened last March, the Traverse City resident has experienced a lifelong relationship with boats.
"Looking back, I've always had something to do with boats. I would tinker and build them as a kid - float em' and sink em,'" Bordine said.
Boats also played pivotal roles in Bordine's career of working with his hands.
After farming in Spruce, Mich. for a decade, Bordine took a position on an Alaskan crab boat for six years. He eventually gave up fishing for farming, but a friend talked Bordine back into the boat business. After graduating from the Northwestern Michigan College Maritime Academy, he sailed on Great Lakes freighters for several years. Returning to dry land and the classroom, Bordine earned a mechanical engineering degree from Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie.
Building boats, however, came about as strictly accidental - or more precisely one bad accident.

Photo by Garret Leiva
Larry Bordine paddles out from Bowers Harbor.

While paddling a fiberglass canoe in Canada, Bordine wrapped the boat around some rocks. When he returned home, he began patching the canoe and found himself surprised by the quality of his craftsmanship. Inspired by his handiwork, Bordine began designing a canoe for Canadian white water. Then he came up with a better idea: why not build a boat he could use in his own backyard - Grand Traverse Bay.
Drawing on his engineering background and hands-on career with boats, Bordine launched Grand Traverse Boatworks earlier this year. Presently a one-man operation, Bordine is the designer and builder of each custom wood kayak and canoe. His Greenland-style kayaks with upswept bows come in 17 and 19 foot models weighing 40 and 45 pounds respectively.
Building boats is a step-by-step scientific process that involves sanding, gluing, epoxy, fiberglass and three for a dollar thrift store shirts.
Before turning on any of his power tools, Bordine first boots up his computer. After drafting a design, a paper template is created and plywood station forms are cut out and used to create the boat's frame. Raw cedar, pine and redwood boards are then run through rotary saws which create a cove and bead on each quarter inch strip. These strips are then glued together and stapled to the stationary forms.
After the glue dries, the staples are removed and the boat is transferred to the sanding room. Here begins the arduous task of planing and sanding the entire boat, which removes excess glue and inconstancies in the wood. Sanding, however, is not something Bordine gets overly obsessive about.
"My theory is that if you agonize over every little strip it would take so long to build the boat when you're done you'll be afraid to use it," said Bordine, who still takes 100 hours to build each custom wood boat.
Once the boat is sanded, Bordine applies a coat of epoxy which seals the wood and makes it water resistant. He also treats both the outside and inside of each boat with fiberglass. Rolling out the fiberglass tape inside the kayak requires a long stick with a small paint brush mounted on the end, gloves, respirator, miner's head lamp and shirts by the dozens.
"I buy long sleeve shirts at Salvation Army three for a dollar. Some are these silk shirts from the 70s that I'm sure were not designed for fiberglassing," Bordine noted.
In the final boat building steps, Bordine sands the seam joining the kayak hull and deck. He then uses fiberglass tape and epoxy on the seam to create one solid boat. After a couple coats of varnish, the foot pedals, seat and gear strap hardware are mounted and the boat is ready to paddle.
While Bordine's kayaks and canoes are artfully engineered, they are designed to be paddled, not hung on a wall or used as a coffee table.
"I have read articles about builders who come out and say their boats never see water," Bordine noted. "If I knew that I was going to build boats that would never be paddled, I would lose my motivation quickly."
"I fall back on my dad's theory: if you want a perfect boat go buy a plastic one ... my boats are designed to be paddled."