2012
Le Massicot / 100 Miles up the St. Lawrence River
Having proceeded about four hundred miles upon his voyage, the author reached Troy, on the Hudson River, New York state, where for several years Elisha Waters & Sons had been perfecting the construction of paper boats...”
~ from the 1878 edition of Nathaniel Bishop, Voyage of the Paper Canoe, A GEOGRAPHICAL JOURNEY OF 2500 MILES FROM QUEBEC TO THE GULF OF MEXICO, DURING THE YEARS 1874-5
Through a combination of historic research, consultation with ABM master boatbuilders, volunteers and staff, and testing of various materials, equipment and techniques, the collective managed to build, in two weeks time, a seaworthy Paper Skiff, on display here. Christened as “Le Massicot” (French for paper cutter) the Paper Skiff was rowed from Clayton, New York to Montreal, a distance of approximately 100 miles up the St. Lawrence River.
The voyage took about a week.
On Paper Boat Construction (11.3 mb)
Down the St. Lawrence in a Paper Boat (North Country Public Radio)
Dredging the World of New York City's Waterways (Vice)
The Paper Boats of Troy (Hakai Magazine)
Contemporary Boat Artists Float Their Ideas (Village Voice)
166 7th Street // Gowanus Studio Space
Brooklyn, New York 11215