My name is Walter Baron. I am a self-taught boat builder, and have been building boats out of wood for about 25 Years. I started Old Wharf Dory Co. at my house on Old Wharf Road in South Wellfleet. This is where the name comes from. I built a couple of boats there, and soon realized that I needed a real shop to build in. I found a two car garage for rent on Bank St. in Wellfleet, got my Coast Guard Manufacturers Identification Code, which is XWC, and started learning to build and repair boats using OJT (on the job training). I had been a house carpenter for several years, so I had some experience with wood and tools. I read a lot of books, subscribed to WoodenBoat magazine ( I have every issue, I think), and went to work every day. I did a lot of repair work then, which was a great learning experience. I also started building simple plywood prams. I have built over 50 prams, out of about 160 boats built over the last 35 years.
I stayed in the original shop on Bank St. for 3 years. I built 38 boats in that shop, including about 30 prams, a 15' plywood skiff, 3 - 17' Swampscott dories, a 25' Black Skimmer , which is a Phil Bolger designed shallow-draft leeboard sharpie, cat-yawl rigged, and a 23' Oregon Dory-style work skiff for the Town of Wellfleet. I also did a lot of repair work.
In 1980 we decided to sell our house on Old Wharf Rd. My wife and I bought a piece of land on Old Chequessett Neck Rd., near the center of Wellfleet. We built my present shop, and house, on this land. I moved into the shop in 1981, we moved into the house in 1983. Since that time I have built over 80 more boats, and repaired and restored many more. I have also been a commercial fisherman, both on a dragger and on the flats of Wellfleet, and have helped to build several post and beam houses. A short list of some of the boats that I have built in the new shop is provided below.
1981 - 15'6" Skiff "Teal" by Sam Rabl; 15'6" Gloucester Gull Rowing Dory by Phil Bolger
1982 - 14' Plywood Skiff by XWC; 6'6" Lapstrake Pram; 16' Plywood Work Skiff by XWC
1983 - 28' Beetle Whaleboat, cedar lapstrake planked,white oak frames and keel; 12' Lapstrake Cartop Skiff, plywood, by John Gardner
1984 - 15'6" Glousester Gull; 17' Swampscott Dory, plywood, by Mystic Seaport; 16' Work Skiff, by XWC; 18' Work Skiff, plywood, by XWC
1985 - 34'6" Shallow Draft Cruiser plywood by Phil Bolger; 15' Cedar Lapstrake Canoe, by Walt Simmons
1986 - 24' Power Catamaran for aquaculture by Phil Bolger; 15' 6" Old Wharf Dory; plywood rowing dory by XWC
1988 - 15' Rowing Skiff "Whisp" by Steve Redmond
1990 - 12' San Francisco Pelican by William Short; 18' Norwalk Island Sharpie, by Bruce Kirby
1992 - 18' Sea Kayak plywood Greenland style by XWC
1993 - 17' Fast Rowing Boat by Jon Aborn; 16' LYS #1 plywood work skiff by XWC; 11' Asa Thompson Skiff glued lap plywood; 20' LYS plywood work skiff #1 by XWC
1994 - 16' Nauset Marsh Skiff guide skiff for Bob McAdams by Tracy O'Brien; 16' H-16, Oregon Dory by Tracy O'Brien; 18' H' 18 Oregon Dory by Tracy O'Brien; 18' Simmons Sea Skiff by T.N. Simmons
1995 - 13' Dory/Skiff by George Lawton
1998 - 9'6" Martha's Tender from WoodenBoat Plans
2000 - 18' Simmons Sea Skiff composite bottom glued lap sides by XWC and Tracy O'Brien; 13' 10" Melonseed Gunning Skiff glued lap plywood traditional design
2001 - 18' Wide Guide Skiff by XWC and Tracy O'Brien
2002 - 10' V-bottom pram T9.9 design by Tracy O'Brien; 40' Wing mast for 10m catamaran, Gougeon Bros. design
2003 - 20' LYSS bare hull; 16' LYS for a lobsterman in Rockport, MA; 18' Annapolis Wherry bare hull CLC kit; 18' Sea Kayak XWC design; 16' LYSS Tybee Island, GA
2004 - 20' SSS, composite bottom, all mahogany interior, teak windshield & rub rail
2005 - 9' Skiff, 17' Swampscott Dory for rowing, 17' Nahant Dory for row and sail, 16' Light Gloucester Gull for dory racing, 90 Lbs.
2006 - D-19, 19' V-bottom Power Skiff, by Tracy O'Brien, remodel Nauset Marsh Skiff.
2007 - M16V, 16' V-bottom Power Skiff, By Jerry Mathieu, Chog Boats, 20' LYS, 12' Lobsterman's Skiff, start the 18' BBB
2008- Finish BBB, built a 9' Weekend Dinghy for Aloha Camps, built 2 16' LYSS.
2009 - Built an Old Wharf Dory, built a 12' Lobsterman's Skiff .
2010 - Built a 20' LYS bare hull, which is being finished out as a camping cruiser with a cabin .
2011 - Built 2 - 12' Lobsterman's Skiffs, built a 15'Pamet Blue Boat, designed by Tom Hill, built a 15'6" Diablo, designed by Phil Bolger ( this is my own boat, a very nice skiff for 1 or 2) , built a 19' Deadrise 19 designed by Tracy O'Brien - the second of this design I have built.
2012 - Built a 10 1/2' Pointy Skiff, design by Phil Bolger
2013 - Built the Savo 650D, design by Ruud Van Veelen, built the 7th 17' Swampscott Dory, traditional Mystic Seaport design
2014 - Built the second , very customised Nauset Marsh Skiff, designed by Tracy O'Brien, built another 12' Lobsterman's Skiff, started the Drake 19 Expedition Row Boat designed by Clint Chase.
2015- finished the Drake 19, built a 14' Cotuit Skiff (hull and deck, painted, no rig, centerboard or rudder), built a Bevin's Skiff to be raffled off by the Wellfleet Historical Society, started a Sinne 610, another Ruud Van Veelen design.