Road Test: Balmain Boat Company Rowboat

THIS DIY project will make you caulk the plank.

rowboat

WHAT is it?

A self-assembly wooden rowboat.

Tell us more.
It arrives by courier as four flat-pack boxes containing pre-cut timbers, brass nails, epoxy glue, sealant and instructions. The only tools you require are a hammer, drill and caulking gun; a bit of DIY nous is handy, but not essential.

Is it hard?
It looks like the mother of all Ikea projects, but in fact the instructions are pretty straightforward. The only tricky bit is fitting the hull planks. The whole project took 30 hours, including sanding and painting, and it made me feel like a craftsman for the first time in my life. (Except when I nailed my sleeve to the hull.)

What's the boat like?
It's a sweet little thing, cheaper than a tinny and with bags more character. It can take three people at a pinch, and if you don't want to row you can fit an outboard motor.

The Balmain Boat Company says it wants to "make dads look like legends". Does it?
I took my young son out on the maiden voyage and he said, wide-eyed, "Daddy, did you really build this?" I squinted at the horizon like Ernest Hemingway, took the pipe from my mouth, gave the faintest of nods and said, simply, "Aye." I didn't tell him it came as a flat-pack.

Price: $1599, thebalmainboatcompany.com