Polaris is 12 feet of beauty created from cedar strips.
Jack and Cheryl Hartwig recently downsized both home and fleet. That’s when Jack’s thoughts returned to building a boat from scratch. He became intrigued with cedar strip construction. Plans were obtained from Compumarine for their 12′ Fisherman. The method of building the boat is similar to that of a cedar strip canoe but the shape is that of a boat. It can take up to a 5 hp outboard but so far is powered by rowing or a trolling motor. This allows use on nearby lakes that do not allow gasoline motors.
Polaris was built in six months in the basement of Hartwig’s villa. The strips are all from Western Red Cedar, all natural color. The in wales, out wales, transom, and seat supports, which are either mahogany or cypress, were stained.