I live in Jamaica Beach and am surrounded by artists of many facets—painters, glass blowers, jewelry makers and more. My love for wood building has brought me to beautiful discoveries made from Western Red Cedar and epoxy.

Tony Olsen is the owner of the Jamaica Beach Boat Storage on Jean Lafitte, where his work shop is also located. 

At the age of 12, Olsen created his first project from natural wood; a corner table for his parents. Olsen’s father was a roofer, farmer and great carpenter who became his  inspiration.

 

Olsen uses wood implements, such as a table saw,  planer machine and an orbit sander to make beautiful wooden kayaks. His first one took three months to make and the material cost around $800. It weighs about 35 pounds. 

He made the second one for his wife, Elaine. It was more intricate and took about six months to create. 

His third kayak took six weeks to build and materials cost around $500. It’s lightest of the three and was designed to do what Tony calls the Eskimo Roll — where one rolls over with the paddle and comes back straight up.

Olsen creates hand-made, custom-designed natural wood items like cabinets, picture frames, tables with special designs as well as kayaks. 

The Olsens are from the Cedar Rapids, Iowa area. They moved to Jamaica Beach nine years ago. Visit them at: Flickr.com and kayak bytes.com.