Materials and planning

Hello faithful readers!  Here's the Robin, my old boat, before the centerboard got stuck and the tiller came off, on the other side of the lagoon you see in the background (read the first couple of posts for the history).  I've learned a lot since then--but at least I was younger and thinner...  Shallow little thing she is, with seats flush with the gunwales.  Obviously one gets quite wet in rough weather.  She also has a simple, angular cross-section.  The new boat will be deeper, with seats well below the gunwales, side decks with splash guards, etc.  It will also have a more complex, rounded form and old-timey lines from the overlapping boards.

I ordered the plywood and oak boards from Homestead Hardwoods in Vickery, OH.  Three 9mm thick 4x8 foot boards for the transverse pieces (frames, transom and bulkheads), and nine 6mm thick 4x8s for everything else.  I think I only need 8 sheets of the 6mm plywood, but it's good to have a spare, given the high cost of shipping.  The oak is mainly for the keel, bow and rubrails, places that will be scraping against rocks, sand and docks (hopefully not other boats!).  By far the largest expense for the whole project, this purchase pushed the total cost so far to just over $1,000.  I have all I need for the hull (except paint), and there will be more expenses for lumber for the spars (masts, yards and booms), sailcloth and related supplies, and chandlery items (that's marine hardware, etc.)  The marine hardware will be things like blocks (pulleys to you landlubbers), line (rope to you), cleats, fairleads, deadyes, snaphooks, etc.  Oh yes, and the lead.  People may wonder why I will be buying 100 pounds of lead shot, since I don't own a shotgun. I will need it for ballast (for stability), and the rudder and centerboard so they can drop into the water when they are not hoisted up. Both need to be retractable for launching and recovery, and when in very shallow water.  But all that will come later.  I have to build the hull first.  By the time I'm done I expect to spend a total of somewhere between $1,500 and $2,000.  That's not counting my labor of course!

The way it will proceed is:

• Cut the transverse pieces and a bow brace first.  
• Assemble the fore-end, joining together the two forward bulkheads and bow brace.
• Build the centerboard case.
• Cut the bench risers, with slots for the frames.  
• Lay the bench risers on the building frame; fit and attach all transverse pieces and the centerboard case.
• Attach the keelson (a 1X4 inch board along the whole length of the bottom of the boat).
• Then I'll be almost ready for the long hull pieces, otherwise known as strakes.  The first (since the boat is built upside-down) are the bottom pieces, otherwise known as garboards.  

But that's enough for now.  For more about the project, check in again at 176inches.

boatbuilder