Doug Hylan’s Boat Designs – New Ideas and Endless Experimenting

This month we pay a visit to Hylan & Brown – a boatyard in Brooklin that since 1999 has specialized in the design, construction, restoration, maintenance, and storage of wooden boats. These days the boatyard is well known for its small- to medium-size boats that are both efficient and environmentally friendly.

The episode opens with host Rich Hilsinger sitting down with Doug and engaging in a relaxed, informative discussion about Hylan’s life in boats. Doug will share with our viewers how he, like many other boatbuilders and owners, was first drawn to boats at an early age. The conversation will follow his career, his influences, his mentors, a few of his new builds and restorations, how regionally significant historic type craft have played an important role in his design work, and the necessity for electric propulsion in the future of boat design, boat construction and boat usage.

Doug will then share with viewers a close-up look at three of his small boat designs: Beach Pea – glued-lapstrake plywood peapod; Oonagh – an aesthetically pleasing alternative to the inflatable, ridged-bottom tender; and the Long Cove barge – a solar powered, garvey-type work boat destined for a local aquaculture business. All three designs evolved from earlier boats and are wonderful examples of how Doug uses this kind of inspiration in his small-craft design work. We feel our viewers will find plenty of inspiration themselves in this episode.