“Mr. Malette was…admired not only by sailors and yachtsmen…but by many others, who were his friends.”

— Noted Builder of Boats Dead at Gananoque, Gananoque Reporter, June 27, 1938

 Jack Malette was born in Gananoque in 1875, his parents having moved to the industry town in the mid-1800s. His life on the River started when he was 16 years old with the Spray of Bostwick, a small barge that he operated to take supplies to nearby islands.

By 1910 he had established a boat building shop at the foot of Charles street, beside the present day Thousand Islands Playhouse. Working by himself or with one other helper, Jack was known as a skilled builder. A line taken from his obituary reads, “… Jack was a meticulous builder who took personal pride in each and every boat he built or that was built under his supervision”.

Over the winter of 1913/14 he built the Tomahawk, a 4.9 metre (16 foot) sailing canoe (16/30 class). Famous at the time, Tomahawk represented Canada at the 1914 International Challenge Cup races held in Gravesend Bay, Brooklyn, New York.

In 1920 Jack began building larger motorized launches, and by the middle of the decade he was modifying and building tour boats, including the 13.7 metre (45 foot) mahogany Courier. By 1938 the Gananoque Reporter credited him with having been involved with the building of the entire fleet of Gananoque Boat Line vessels.

Jack owned one of three commercial band saws in Gananoque and was able to produce hundreds of duck decoy blanks for hunters who wanted to carve their own. He was known as a carver himself and crafted many bluebill decoys for his personal hunting.

Malette was one of the first woodworkers to make laminated paddles. Of special note are the double blade kayak paddles he crafted for Edward “Ebon” Deir, who used them when he represented Canada in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany.

Another of Jack’s triumphs was the four International 14 sailing dinghies that he was commissioned to build circa 1937/38. Known as ‘G Boats’ for Gananoque, they were commissioned by local sailors and raced for many summers in the Eastern Ontario and Northern New York Circuit.

An avid sailor himself, Malette built hundreds of boats during his 40 year career, which included racing canoes, sailing dinghies, motorized launches, tour boats, ice boats, rowing and motorized skiffs.

Boats built by Jack Malette in the Museum collection:

The Boat Museum is proud to own one of the four International 14 racing dinghies that Jack Malette built in 1937/38. Commissioned by Dr. Godfrey Bird, the boat was donated to the Museum by the Bird family in 2015. Two other ‘G Boats’ still exist; one belongs to the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, New York, and the other is stored at a private boathouse in Nova Scotia.