The cost of their custom wooden
boats reflects the quality and painstaking
workmanship involved in every step of the
process — and there are hundreds. Though
the Van Dams are reluctant to discuss price,
most of their wooden boats start in the
$200,000-$300,000 range and increase from
there, some to $1 million and beyond.
“Everything is so custom, there definitely
is no maximum,” Steve says. “Customers can
make it as tricked-out and exotic as they want.”RAISING THE BAR
Van Dam wooden boats come with a lifetime
warranty against leaking or rot. “If [owners]
keep up the maintenance, we know it will last
and last and last,” Steve says.
“These boats are built to be passed down
generation to generation,” Ben adds. “Our early
boats are still in operation. If you keep the proper
maintenance on them, they’ll last forever.”
At Bay Harbor Resort’s recent vintage car
and boat festival in Harbor Springs, the Van
Dams showed off some of their latest custom
projects, including the Art Deco-inspired
Catnip, described as a 30-foot “retro runabout”
with a one-of-a-kind convertible top, and
Chiara, a 43-foot wooden dayboat with looks
inspired by military stealth boats and aircraft.
Steve recalls every custom boat they’ve
ever built, but holds special memories of
“breakthroughs,” such as the Patrician, a
55-foot day-sailing yacht launched in 1988,
and, 10 years later, Alpha Z, a sleek, 100
mph wooden powerboat with a handcrafted
mahogany dashboard and its name spelled out
in stainless steel.
Nearly 30 years ago, to satisfy the Patrician
skipper’s desire for single-handed sailing, Van
Dam engineered and constructed a complete
electrical and hydraulic system that allows one
person to handle all systems from the helm.
Steve credits the retro-modern Alpha Z for
challenging them and raising his shop’s bar
even higher for details related to custom fit
and finish, engine design and electronics.
“Until then, everyone had pigeon-holed us
as a builder of sailboats and runabouts,” Ben
says. “That broke the mold for the wooden
boat world. People didn’t realize you could do
a contemporary, very shapely boat different
than any classic runabout. The fact that it was
so fast and so sleek and so different from what
a traditional wooden boat ever was thought to
be makes it extremely special.”His father noted that the project inspired
him to add metal fabricating to the company’s
repertoire. “We have a complete metal shop here
now. We can custom-fabricate anything,” Steve
says, including metal latches, powered seats,
exhaust systems and hardware, such as pivots and
joints for convertible tops and other parts.
These days, the shop uses 3D modeling
for complex projects, such as a push-button
retractable top or an electrically operated
foldout swim platform. The crew also handles
custom contemporary projects, including
using hybrid engines in powerboats and
checking fuel levels from an iPhone.
For Ben, boatbuilding comes naturally.
Family lore has him toddling out to the
backyard shed with a cordless drill in hand, and
he has early memories of standing on a bench
watching the guys work. His younger sister,
Brie, also worked in the shop but decided to
pursue a different path. With a doctorate in
atmospheric chemistry, she works as a scientist
at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks and at
a research station north of the Arctic Circle.
And, while he has sailed and cruised
many boats in his time, Steve never made his
extended world trip by wooden boat. Nor does
he yearn to make that journey. “I like being in
the shop, building and creating stuff,” he says.
“I would go nuts if I had to live on a boat all
the time and be confined.” ★ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Susan R. Pollack is an award-winning journalist in Metro Detroit who grew up
on the St. Clair River in Port Huron. She has fond, post-high school memories
of sailing on Lake Huron and singing sea shanties from when her boyfriend’s
best friend had access to the family boat.Chiara
Patrician
Alpha Z
LAKELANDBOATING.COM | JULY 2017 49VanDam_JUL17.indd 49 5/25/17 11:41 AM