Mackinaw

The Mackinaw type fishing boat was one of the first to appear on the Wisconsin shores of Lake Michigan, brought over by the French settlers. The name "Mackinaw" comes from the straits of that name, known locally as "Machinaw" or "Mackinaw." The double-enders were most popular in the vicinity of the straits. The Mackinaw boat was also known as the 'Collingwood skiff,' and the name 'Mackinaw' was applied to all the two-masted lake boats in the western lakes area without distinction of type of hull.

The boats appear to have originated from a small, double-ended, open rowing and sailing boat and may have been developed from the St. Lawrence skiffs, which became very well known to eastern sportsmen in the 1870's and 80's.

This model was lofted at 1/6th (2"=1'-0") scale because of the small size. It is powered by wind and sail. The rudder is radio controlled. To make the model operational, the rear seat was replaced with the remote control apparatus. It was lofted from plans borrowed from a local museum and made using the plank-on-frame construction method.

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