There is a harmony that exists between wood, leather, and steel that is difficult to explain and impossible to replicate. On their own, each material carries its own authority — leather and steel lending timelessness and precision to everything from fine automobiles to elegant timepieces. But when the three are brought together, something shifts. The textures and tones mingle into something greater than their sum, and it quickly becomes clear that it is not the leather or the steel that anchor the experience. It is the wood — its natural grain, its inherent life, the centuries of growth encoded in every board and plank — that ties everything together. It is the wood that makes a Van Dam boat unlike anything else on the water.
Life Refined Magazine explored that truth in depth in its feature Wooden Wonders, tracing the origins, philosophy, and craft of Van Dam Custom Boats in Boyne City, Michigan — and arriving at the same conclusion that every person who has spent time with these boats eventually reaches: when a sailor at heart sets out to provide fellow boaters with an unmatched experience, the results are incomparable.
The story of Van Dam Custom Boats begins in the early 1970s, when Steve Van Dam — having rebuilt a 36-foot wooden cutter-rigged sailboat and married Jean, an experienced sailor who shared and encouraged his passion — headed to Canada to apprentice with master builder Victor Carpenter. The experience changed everything. Steve did not simply absorb what he was taught. He set out to surpass it, and then to continually surpass himself. “Steve’s passion became building something and trying to do it at a level better than he was taught, better than what other people were doing,” says Ben Van Dam, president of the company and Steve’s son. That relentless pursuit became the catalyst for Van Dam Custom Boats — originally called Van Dam Wood Craft when it was founded in 1977 — and it has never left the culture of the company since.
The company has evolved considerably across more than four decades, moving from a shed alongside Steve’s house to a commercial park in Harbor Springs to its current full-scale boat shop in Boyne City, where it has operated since 1991. It has transitioned from sailboats to powerboats and expanded its capabilities in every direction. But through every change, one thing has remained constant: a tireless pursuit of quality craftsmanship and the purity of the trade itself. “We are ensuring the future of craftsmanship and the pursuit of perfection,” Ben says. “We are doing that by designing and building the world’s finest wooden boats.” One look at a Van Dam boat confirms that this is not a lofty claim. It is simply an accurate one.
At the center of everything is wood — arguably the most labor-intensive boatbuilding material available, and unquestionably the most characterful. “There’s something unique about wood,” Ben told Life Refined, his voice carrying the admiration of someone who knows the medium in a way few people can claim. “It’s dynamic. Something we could never create.” He is right. Long before boats dotted oceans and lakes, trees struck a deal with time — growing unhurried, weaving slowly into the world, strengthening rather than withering with age. Van Dam has a deep respect for that natural agreement, and a desire to honor it in every build.
Mahogany is used for most hulls, chosen for its inherent stability, durability, and centuries-long history in marine use. Yellow cedar and sipo serve where lightweight, high-strength performance is needed. The selection of wood for each project is made not only for beauty but for utility — every species chosen deliberately for the role it will play in the finished vessel. And the construction process that brings those materials together is anything but traditional. “We’re using high-tech methodology with traditional materials,” Ben explains. “These boats are cold molded, so they don’t have the problems that traditional boats have.” The cold-molding process — laminating planks together to create a hull that is lightweight, watertight, and extraordinarily strong — eliminates the moving planks, cracked seams, and swelling that plague older wooden boats. Van Dam is so confident in this process that every boat carries a lifetime guarantee against rotting, leaks, and similar flaws. Not a single claim has been filed since the company’s founding in 1977.
With the exception of engines, drive systems, glass, and upholstery, everything on a Van Dam boat is built in-house. “We can make just about anything,” Ben says — and the portfolio proves it. From the exotic silhouette of Alpha Z to the 1920s-inspired lines of the 80-mph Jacqueline, every Van Dam boat is a piece of performance art. “It’s like building a piece of fine furniture except that it’s going to be dynamic,” Steve says. The words “production” and “stock” are rarely heard in the boat shop. Every boat is as unique as its owner, built by hand from the earliest design phase to the final detail.
The craftsmen who do that building are the foundation of everything. Van Dam runs a four-year apprenticeship program specifically designed to attract and develop the most talented people in the field, because both Steve and Ben understand that the quality of every build begins and ends with the individuals doing the work. “We really, truly believe that our ability to do this work hinges completely on the individuals that work here,” Ben says. Those individuals contribute thousands — sometimes tens of thousands — of hours to every single unique design. Their only real constraint, as Ben puts it with a laugh, is imagination. “We are strictly limited by our ability to dream it up.”
For clients who want to differentiate themselves through the boat they own — to express their personality, demonstrate their appreciation for craftsmanship, and experience something that no one else in the world has — Van Dam is, simply, the answer. A Van Dam boat is not just transportation. It is, as Life Refined concluded, about experiencing the journey and realizing that the space between destinations can be the most memorable part of all.