Boat construction 

Our shipwrights build to design in exotic native timbers, such as mahogany, guayacan or cedro amarga, as well as fibreglass and cold molding - whatever the occasion demands! 

Panamá Yachting Services, James Laing, is an experienced master shipwright, rigger, surveyor and former delivery captain, who learnt his skills as a small boy helping his uncles in their yard at York Bay on Wellington Harbour.  The Atkinsons, well known New Zealand boat builders, pioneered cold molding in the 1940's. 

There he developed a love of boats and the sea.  He has developed this early training to become a noted local shipwright and expert on boat construction.  Below you can see some of his work.


The 'Walnut' dinghy


The Walnut dinghy is a stable load carrier - 9ft long and made locally in fibreglass. It can land on a surf beach, fits on top of a car or on deck and can be converted to sail.  

Its safety and stability were proven, when the original dinghy was rowed across Cook Strait - a rough stretch of water between New Zealand's North and South Islands.

The original dinghy, built in York Bay on Wellington Harbour lasted on York Bay beach for over 40 years. It was used to reach the family owned and built fishing trawler St Michael, moored in the Bay.  

And it was used as the trawler's dinghy when St Michael went to the Auckland Islands in 1972. It can be seen in the expedition photos with the voyage account.

Wooden Boat magazines celebrated 'Whio'


Whio, an elegant New Zealand designed launch featured in Wooden Boat magazine in 2008.  Its designers, Peter Sewell and Bill Simpson had long held, that there is a place for combining the best of traditional launch design with modern materials, techniques and power sources. Their design won international accolades for its beauty and economy.

Light, trailerable and economical to run, she is a fore-runner of beautiful smaller boats, suitable for family or commercial use that do not cost a fortune to run.  

The boat can be taken by road anywhere and kept at home.  We built a slightly modified version of the Whio, for use in Panama. 

 And would love to build another to the original design and consider incorporating a steam engine - the original concept of her designers. Innovative and found of steam you can check them out here.