Ever since GEOFF BURKE went on his first canoe trip in the Adirondack Mountains in second grade, canoes and small boats have been an important part of his life. In the early 1970s a love of the wilderness took him to Alaska where a job with summers off let him take a series of canoe trips varying in length from 200 to 1,000 miles. He came to realize that small boats could be capable of more than puddin’ around the pond—they could make voyages of epic length. Upon returning to New England long on watercraft skills but short on marketable ones, a chance encounter with an article in WoodenBoat magazine written by Robert Baker changed his life. Baker’s piece was on building PICCOLO, a 13' lapstrake sailing canoe.Geoff’s many seemingly disparate skills suddenly became a good foundation to becoming a boatbuilder. He attended courses taught by Walt Simmons and John Gardner. Henry Rushton and Pete Culler became the focus of much research. Today, Geoff owns a very successful business building traditional wooden small craft, and enjoys teaching boatbuilding classes at WoodenBoat School and Lake Champlain Maritime Museum.