The Perfect Couple – 2024

A year or so ago we got a call from a props director working on a movie for Netflix. They didn’t tell us what the name of the project was, but they said they were looking for a beautiful tandem wooden kayak to feature in the production they were working on. They had heard we were the best and wondered if we had something suitable they could use. The production was going to be filmed out on Cape Cod and they needed something for a week or so.

It so happened that I had been contacted by the owner of a microBootlegger Tandem that I had made a few years ago. He had a change in circumstances which meant he did not have a place to display or store the boat. He happened to live out on Cape Cod.

I connected the production team with the kayak owner. While this did not solve his storage issue, it did mean that the kayak was available for use in the production. They agreed on terms and he delivered the kayak to the filming location. Within a week the screen writer’s strike started and filming was said to move to Europe. The owner got his kayak back and that was the last we heard about it.

Until I got a message from my cousin while I was out at the Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend, WA. She sent me a screen shot asking if the kayak in the show she was watching was one of mine. She was watching The Perfect Couple which had just been released by Netflix. Based on a 2018 novel of the same name by Elin Hilderbrand, and starring an ensemble cast, including Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Eve Hewson, and Dakota Fanning.

Over the next few days my social media blew up with DM’s asking if the kayak was one of mine. It turns out the dialog during the scene that introduced the kayak mentioned picking up the kayak from “Nick”, “in Groton”. Many of my friends recognized my work right away before the mention of my name, but it was a lot of fun to watch the series and see the boat.

The story is a murder mystery involving a lot of rich folks behaving badly and the kayak served as a minor plot element. It is not exactly what you would rate a high concept movie, but it is a lot of fun. It isn’t a spoiler to say that the kayak did not murder anyone.

The boat is still available. If you are interested in owning a beautiful kayak that has a great story around it, you can learn more about it here.