“The first time I saw my mother drive that boat I said, ‘I can’t believe it’. And she said it was easy!
They all drove them to visit each other on Sunday afternoons”.

— Sally Wylde, stepdaughter of Grandy Hoyt, August 21, 2013

Born in 1921 in Gananoque, Bob Gerrard crafted furniture and worked on custom wood finishing projects from an early age. Although he started out as a factory worker at the Link Manufacturing Company, Ltd. in Gananoque, he went on to become a well known local boatbuilder.

In the 1950s he opened the Custom Watercraft and Woodworking shop on North Street. He was known for building flat-bottom punts, cedar strip runabouts, paddles and oars. He also repaired wooden boats and offered winter storage services. As with many local woodworkers, his shop was a gathering place for other builders and neighbourhood children.

In the winter of 1957/58, Bob was commissioned to build seven 4.8 metre (16 foot) cedar strip runabouts by island resident Grandy Hoyt. Hoyt had purchased one of these boats for himself in 1956, found it easy to manoeuvre and handle through the islands, and decided to order seven as Christmas gifts – one for his wife, and six for his island friends. Grandy’s generous gifts were powered by Johnson Golden Javelin 35 Horsepower engines. Of the three boats still in existence, the Museum owns two.

As fibreglass boats gained popularity in the early 1970s the demand for wooden boats declined, and Bob Gerrard left boat building but continued to repair boats. A longtime wildlife enthusiast, he also held positions with the Gananoque Provincial Wildlife Area and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.

Boats built by Bob Gerrard in the Museum collection:

The Museum is fortunate to own Riboki, one of seven identical boats that island resident Grandy Hoyt had built as Christmas presents for his wife and six female friends. He hoped the nimble, easy-to-control boats would get them out on the water at a time when women were not generally seen at the helm of a boat. The runabout was donated to the Museum in 2015 and restored by local high school students through the Museum’s Boatbuilding Program. The boat was relaunched as Riboki (RIver, BOat and KIds) when the work was complete.