A Cinderella in Colombia

An example of my small open canoe design intended for quick building, the Cinderella, has been made in Colombia. See the free boat plans page.

Hearing from people all around the world is one of the great pleasures of having designed some small boats, and this one has certainly been built with loving care.

Here’s what the latest Cinderella’s builder, Franklin Peñaranda has to say:

‘Mr . Atkin,

‘It is a pleasure to finally e-mail you. I live in Barranquilla, Colombia and I have built the Cinderella canoe that you designed and wrote about in your book Ultrasimple Boatbuilding.

‘The book was given to me by a good neighbor as a gift about 6 years ago, and I have been dreaming of one day building that canoe.

‘My interest in boats and boatbuilding dates to the teenage years (I will be 48 in March).

‘I am sending you a few pictures of my interpretation of your wonderfully designed Cinderella. It took me more than 11 months to construct it, mostly due to difficulties in finding fiberglass and paint help, and I made a few errors that had to be rectified, but it has been a wonderful learning experience.

‘I do not have any training or experience in boatbuilding, and nor any family, friends or neighbors. My background and profession is in truck driving.

‘The Cinderella has had such a great response from people that I am going to build small boats for a living. Imagine that!

‘Thank you for writing and publishing your work, and for inspiring and us novices.

‘Sincerely, Franklin Peñaranda’