You're currently on the Canadian/International site. US customers visit bearmountainboats.com 🇺🇸

Nick Offerman Approved

Woodworkers standing in Offerman Woodshop

When Nick Offerman called us up a few year ago, he was really only looking for canoe plans. A casual mention of his acting career inspired us to start thinking about ways to supplement Canoecraft, and before we knew it The Canoecraft Companion Video with Nick Offerman was in the works. The resulting 136-minute video was a step-by-step visual guide on the woodstrip canoe building process, led by one of the most charismatic woodworkers in the business.

These days Nick is best known for his career in tv and film, from Parks and Recreation to Hearts Beat Loud. Yet he's managed to pursue his passion for woodworking at the same time, basing his operations out of Offerman Woodshop along with a collective of likeminded East LA makers. OWS specializes in handcrafted traditional joinery, often using locally salvaged woods. As artisans ourselves we're extremely grateful - not to mention impressed - by all the work Nick has done to encourage people to re-connect with their creative side by working directly with their hands.

Good Clean Fun: Misadventures in Sawdust at Offerman Woodshop, sums up his ethos. The book includes both practical projects and meditations on the creative life. Boat-building is a unique challenge that people often dream about for years before actually embarking on a project, and we're happy to have played a part in realizing Nick's canoe-building goals. Nick more than returned the favour by including a profile of Bear Mountain Boats in a chapter on his woodworking inspirations.

We also owe a big thank you to our friend Jimmy DiResta, YouTuber, Maker extraordinaire, and all-around craftsperson. Jimmy was the videographer on the Canoecraft Companion Video, and he's since documented the building of his own woodstrip canoe. Both he and Nick are tireless in their work to get new audiences interested in traditional trades. In an era of prefab convenience and digital overload, we think their DIY mentality is a necessary corrective. If you've landed on this page because Nick or Jimmy piqued your interest in boat-building, welcome! We hope you'll find a wealth of resources to help you get started - plus a few anecdotes for good measure, like the time we helped Nick launch a canoe from a third-storey window.

Get a downloadable copy of the Canoecraft Companion Video with Nick Offerman here.

If you prefer a physical DVD, hard copies are available here.