Vergennes boatbuilder completes large project in Japan, will speak at college

Douglas Brooks has just returned to his home in Vergennes from two months in Japan, his third trip there in the last year. It was part of an ambitious project building six 36-foot long wooden river boats for the Kumagawa Kudari, a company in Kyushu that takes tourists down a whitewater river. 

Wooden boat-building expert Douglas Brooks of Vergennes has just released his latest book, “The Cormorant Fishing Boat: A Japanese Craftsman’s Methods.” 

MIDDLEBURY — For several years, Vergennes boat builder Douglas Brooks has taught Middlebury College students how to make boats using traditional Japanese methods. This Winter Term he mixed things up a bit by overseeing 14 Middlebury students in the constr … (read more)