I have wanted to build a small day sailer for a couple of years, since admitting that our old FJ was too unforgiving for me to sail her alone in a breeze, and especially too unforgiving for any visiting grandchildren. In the end, I sold the FJ back to the good friend I bought it from 25 years ago, for the same $250 I paid him back then.
Initially, I was inclined to build a little catboat, the 12 ½’ Bolger designed Tiny Cat, based on the venerable Beetle Cat. In early 2009, however, a very pretty 14’ sharpie skiff caught my eye on Duckworth’s web site. It was designed by Howard Chapelle, based on a boat he measured in the early 1940’s, of a traditional type common from 1860 to early in the 20th century. This boat may not be quite as stiff as the catboat, but it should be well suited to protected bay waters. For a look at the boat, see htpp://www.duckworksmagazine.com/04/s/articles/chapelle/index.cfm%20.
The one boat I have built before, a Gloucester Light Dory, had wonderfully detailed plans by Phil Bolger and an exhaustive companion instruction book by Dynamite Payson. For this boat I am mostly on my own, and there will be several challenges besides my limited experience. Although a flat bottomed skiff is probably the simplest kind of hull to build, Chapelle’s plans are not as detailed. For example, there is no way to tell from the plans or to calculate the exact shape of the side panels, the transom, or the stem. My goal is to build the boat with modern materials and methods (like plywood and epoxy) and still stay faithful to the hull lines and sail plan as designed. Large scale plans of all Chapelle’s designs are available from the Smithsonian, and I ordered what I thought would be the plans for this boat. But what they sent was a plan for a similar sized outboard motor skiff, which I suspect was the boat Chapelle based his design on. I decided to rely on the plans as shown online, and waited for the weather to cool off before starting. One thing and another delayed the start of the project until December. But now, armed with Chapelle's plans and his 1941 book Boatbuilding, Reuel Parker's The Sharpie Book, and Peter Cook's Boatbuilding Methods, the project is underway.
Initially, I was inclined to build a little catboat, the 12 ½’ Bolger designed Tiny Cat, based on the venerable Beetle Cat. In early 2009, however, a very pretty 14’ sharpie skiff caught my eye on Duckworth’s web site. It was designed by Howard Chapelle, based on a boat he measured in the early 1940’s, of a traditional type common from 1860 to early in the 20th century. This boat may not be quite as stiff as the catboat, but it should be well suited to protected bay waters. For a look at the boat, see htpp://www.duckworksmagazine.com/04/s/articles/chapelle/index.cfm%20.
The one boat I have built before, a Gloucester Light Dory, had wonderfully detailed plans by Phil Bolger and an exhaustive companion instruction book by Dynamite Payson. For this boat I am mostly on my own, and there will be several challenges besides my limited experience. Although a flat bottomed skiff is probably the simplest kind of hull to build, Chapelle’s plans are not as detailed. For example, there is no way to tell from the plans or to calculate the exact shape of the side panels, the transom, or the stem. My goal is to build the boat with modern materials and methods (like plywood and epoxy) and still stay faithful to the hull lines and sail plan as designed. Large scale plans of all Chapelle’s designs are available from the Smithsonian, and I ordered what I thought would be the plans for this boat. But what they sent was a plan for a similar sized outboard motor skiff, which I suspect was the boat Chapelle based his design on. I decided to rely on the plans as shown online, and waited for the weather to cool off before starting. One thing and another delayed the start of the project until December. But now, armed with Chapelle's plans and his 1941 book Boatbuilding, Reuel Parker's The Sharpie Book, and Peter Cook's Boatbuilding Methods, the project is underway.
For family and anyone else interested, I'll try to keep a log of progress. Comments and suggestions are welcome.
No comments:
Post a Comment