Shipwright and Woodworker: Keith Mitchell

Greetings boating enthusiasts! Fall has officially settled in, and we are now preparing for the colder months, focusing on boat repair and maintenance while we anxiously await the arrival of the new season.  

As boating adventures on the water calm down, we thought we’d take this opportunity to highlight one of our favorite shipwrights who holds an immeasurable amount of knowledge and is a significant resource for the boating and woodworking community. Of course, we’re talking about none other than Keith Mitchell from Shipwright Skills! He’s about to get into the good part of his latest challenge, building a Jarvis Board Stand Up Paddleboard kit, and of course we’re right there for him helping with his supplies.

Keith’s amazing work spans from collaborating with Steve on the Acorn to Arabella boat building project, to crafting the stunning winning boat in our Summer Boat Building Make-Off Challenge. He is always indispensable support at events like Maker Camp, where he enthusiastically guided folks in building their delightful mini catamarans.  Keith is not just an ambassador for TotalBoat; he's a shining star in our community and as mentioned, is an important part of many other “maker” communities.  His talents are varied and span almost all the “making” one can attempt.  Keith is an artist, a woodworker, a metalsmith, a shipwright, a gardener and farmer of sorts - and he has an extensive portfolio to prove it.

Keith Mitchell at Maker Camp 2023: Mark Adams Pictures 

Over on Keith’s YouTube channel, Shipwright Skills Woodworking, he shares all of his craftsman skills with videos on making things from boats to furniture, built-ins to buildings. His passion is to build it all and show you how you can too. He has a passion for what he’s making that is palpable in his videos and commentary, and if you meet him you can feel his excitement for the current project even more. 

Keith has done many projects using TotalBoat products, but initially was a stalwart user of traditional marine products and brands; and he wasn’t easily swayed to use TotalBoat in the beginning. A few builds later, Keith became a confident Ambassador and continues to help us highlight how TotalBoat products are as good as - if not better - than those that many boaters and woodworkers started out using.

He proved this when he built a Rams Horn sled using our High Performance Epoxy for laminations and glue ups and then varnished it with our Wood Sealer and several coats of Gleam 2.0 Spar Varnish. He has done several amazing tool drawings, and is a master of the Tool tutorial.  His easy style and calm presentation make his videos a pleasure to watch - so make sure you are subscribed to his channel so you can follow along with all his handiwork. You can tell it’s his passion and he says the following about being a “maker:”

Make sure to join Keith's online community to keep up with his fun projects, and game-changing tips and tools! You’ll want to keep an eye on his current Jarvis Board SUP build that is just being started. So far he’s shared the construction of the fin box and the paddleboard fin, linked below, where he leaned on our very clear, crowd favorite High Performance epoxy with Slow Hardener. He will do so again for gluing the wood strips and then for fiberglassing the board. Be sure to follow the progress and follow this amazing Ambassador on all his channels and leave him a comment letting him know that his friends at TotalBoat sent you!  Enjoy!