Jim Booker Boat Repair Lessons

It's all Jim's Fault!!!

The repairing of whitewater canoes and kayacks was perfected by Jim Booker of the Berkshire AMC Chapter. Jim has been white-water boating since the early 1960's. He has over 30 years experience in repairing boats.

A welder by profession (as well as a boater), Jim originally specialized in welding aluminum canoes that were wrapped around rocks or otherwise mangled by rivers. At that time, if a boat was distroyed by the rocks there were no other options other then junking it. Being a welder, Jim was able to transfer his professional knolledge over to his hobbly and allow otherwise unusable boats to be repaired.

When ABS boats first came out he learned how to weld plastic. It was at his suggestion and assistance that Seelyee first developed a high-speed welding tip to aid in ABS boat repair. Jim also branched out by fabricating heavy-duty ash gunnels, seat thwarts, boat trailers, and other related items. On the average, he repaired over 80 boats per year for boaters from all over the northeast.

Unfortunately for us, Jim retired in 2002 and moved to North Carolina. He has however did his best to pass along some of his knowllege and boat repair techniques so we can continue in his legacy.

In May of 2002, members of both the MVP and AMC made several visits to his home to learn how to weld plastic boats. The individuals making the trek were Skip Morris, Mark Lacroix, Will Kranz, Bill Smith, Suzanne Ward, and Tom Todd.

Continuing the legacy:

Suzanne Ward bought Jim's welder and some of his stock. She also purchased a portable welding kit from Seelye. (Suzanne has a business on the side outfitting and repairing boats, I use the term "business" loosely since she doesn't make any money at it and mostly does it for fun.)

Skip ended up with some of Jim's canoe trip and river files (for several wilderness trips), Skip also has a welder purchased from Laramy, as well as a backup welder from Chicago Electric. (Skip doesn't repair boats for financial consideration, but has been known to accept bribes of chocolate or other similar fare.)

Bill Smith also bought one of the Chicago Electric welders from Harbor Freight; he's been looking for an excuse to use it. Tom Todd bought an older (spare) welder of Jim's. (Tom is also a good resource for all-things-paddling.) Other New England paddlers rumored to have welders include Mel Noll, John Jenkins, and Griff Venator.