Is wooden boatbuilding nature friendly?

Video transcript:

Obviously, when you cut down trees, you take away something from nature, right? So in that respect, it's not nature friendly. But the good thing is that trees can grow up again, and they will grow up again. So it's renewable in that way.

And if you build something that's high quality, that is very functional, that's very beautiful, that is built in the right way so that it's durable also, it can last a very very long time. Like a wooden boat built probably can easily outlast you and probably also your children - maybe or even your grandchildren. So when you build something that lasts a very long time, I would say that's the most sustainable way of working.

So even though there is some impact, obviously that the truck that, you know, transports the raw wood from the forest, obviously the chainsaw uses petrol. You use some glues also that are based on petrochemicals. So there will be, you know, some footprint. But the footprint is probably the smallest one you can get in a boat.

That's one thing, that's, you know, building something that can last a long time making it out of a natural material. Another thing is actually the fact that you build a small boat. You know, just the fact that it weighs let's say 30 kilos or 50 kilos instead of two tons or four tons makes a huge difference.

And the great thing about the small boats is that even though they're not very big they can still take you to magical, special places. Perhaps even more magical and even more special than the bigger boats, because you can go, you know, you can go up on a beach on a deserted island if that's what you want because the draft of the boat is so low.

- Mikkel Pagh