One of the fascinating aspects of traditional wooden boat construction is its persistent relevance in the modern world. Yes, there have been infinite developments in other materials and methods of boat construction, from fiberglass to ferrocement to steel. Amazingly, however, if one were wanting to leave the land today and voyage on a body of water, a traditional boat of plank-on-frame construction with solid-wood timbers and mechanical fastenings would still be a viable option. Plank-on-frame construction is strong and safe and can hold its own against more modern materials, and there is one advantage it has over other construction methods: Traditional construction offers a completeness to the cycle of building, from harvesting and milling materials to the vessel’s movement through the water. Its allure is irresistible for those of us who want to go deep and follow the process from beginning to end.
Trapper Haskins is this kind of person. His book, Crooked Old River: Rowing Toward Redemption on the Mississippi, takes the reader on a boat voyage down the Mississippi River, a voyage that started in 2002 but ended up taking 16 years due to a major interruption just 100 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. Not just any boat would do for Haskins, who grew up in Memphis and spent much of his youth on the banks of the river. There is a thoroughness to his way of thinking, an obsessiveness about doing things the right way. Specifically, he builds a traditional 18' plank-on-frame skiff and names it OXBOW. The lines of OXBOW came from Howard Chapelle’s American Small Sailing Craft, where it is labeled “River skiff, fitted to sail, for use on the lower Mississippi, 1889.” Although “fitted for sail,” OXBOW ends up being rowed by Haskins and his wife, Mandy, nearly the entire length of the 2,552-mile-long river.