Is $100,000 too much for a red cedar canoe?
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Trent Preszler builds heirloom quality canoes using traditional woodworking techniques, each boat painstakingly molded from hundreds of hand-cut wood strips during an exacting process that can take him a year to complete.

The first one took even longer, as Preszler learned woodworking technique in a combination of self study and trial and error. That project was inspired, Preszler told the Wall St. Journal, by woodworking actor Nick Offerman, whose TV character paddled away in a canoe in the final episode of Parks & Recreation. 

Preszler Woodshop canoes are functional works of art, Preszler says, each made by him in his woodshop in Mattituck, New York, on the North Fork of Long Island. An 1820s barn that was the original village blacksmith is his woodshop. 

Preszler considers himself a third generation farmer, operating Bedell Cellars, a 100-acre winery and vinyard on Long Island. He has an MS and PhD in Horticulture from Cornell University. Bedell Merlot was served at the Presidential inauguration and vintages sell for up to $250 a bottle.

He started building his first canoe in 2014 after his father passed away, primarily of aromatic red cedar, with black walnut, ziricote, maple and basswood also incorporated. The oars are ash, with the tips dipped into molten bronze. He plans to sell it for $100,000 as he moves ahead on three more canoes.

"I’ll be building different boats with different species of trees," says Preszler. "There are different colors and grains and textures to be had out of sustainable timber here in coastal Long Island, New York."  

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About the author
Bill Esler | ConfSenior Editor

Bill wrote for WoodworkingNetwork.com, FDMC and Closets & Organized Storage magazines. 

Bill's background includes more than 10 years in print manufacturing management, followed by more than 30 years in business reporting on industrial manufacturing in the forest products industries, including printing and packaging at American Printer (Features Editor) and Graphic Arts Monthly (Editor in Chief) magazines; and in secondary wood manufacturing for WoodworkingNetwork.com.

Bill was deeply involved with the launches of the Woodworking Network Leadership Forum, and the 40 Under 40 Awards programs. He currently reports on technology and business trends and develops conference programs.

In addition to his work as a journalist, Bill supports efforts to expand and improve educational opportunities in the manufacturing sectors, including 10 years on the Print & Graphics Scholarship Foundation; six years with the U.S. WoodLinks; and currently on the Woodwork Career Alliance Education Committee. He is also supports the Greater West Town Training Partnership Woodworking Program, which has trained more than 950 adults for industrial wood manufacturing careers. 

Bill volunteers for Foinse Research Station, a biological field station staddling the border of Ireland and Northern Ireland, one of more than 200 members of the Organization of Biological Field Stations.