Background. I'm a weird guy. I'm into oddball stuff, always have been. Not oddball like biting heads off chickens or getting neck tattoos. More like "shoulda been born 200 years ago" oddball. I like to make stuff. Beer, bows, boats, you name it. If it can be made, especially if it can be made from wood, I'm likely either interested or have already tried it.
I just turned 40, hence the tag line. Not that I haven't been livin' up to now, but what the heck. For my birthday, the family all ponied up donations for a "winter project", otherwise known around here as a boat. I can't claim to be a boatbuilder yet, as I haven't done more than dabble so far. But I'm working on changing that.
I got into boats late. When I was about to graduate college, my uncle picked up an old plywood runabout to fix up. My dad and I spent months helping him re-do it. That pretty much hooked me. Subscriptions to Woodenboat followed and have stuck.
I built my first "boat" in my mid-20s. Thankfully there are no surviving pictures of said boat. It was loosely based on the Six Hour Canoe, but made from left over plywood (3/8 on side and 3/4 on the bottom as I recall), and I put a torpedo stern on it of all things. Weighed a ton and leaked like a sieve. But it did float. Last I saw it was on the burn pile behind the barn I used to rent as I was driving the U-Haul away to a new job.
About the same time, I picked up an old fiberglass skiff that needed a new floor and restored that to run around in. When my wife was pregnant with our daughter, I tackled what has probably been my biggest and most successful project, the Baby Tender, from Jordan Wooden Boats. It's a cute little lap strake cradle boat that now resides in the attic, awaiting (VERY patiently) my future grandchildren.
Got rid of the first glass boat in the mid-2000s and picked up another glass boat, a '59 Glasspar Sefair Sedan that also needed a floor and transom replaced. I replaced all that and some of the mahogany trim and have been using that for several years now. It's a good boat, but it is a product of modern chemistry, which will probably not ever sit "just right" with me, but I can live with it. Somewhere in here I've also re-done a couple of small plywood skiffs. One a 10 footer that I never actually put in the water, and the other a 10' drift pram that I used quite a bit, but eventually sold.
And most recently, I built a little rowing catamaran of my own design last winter. Picture one of those inflatable one-man rowing catamarans, but made of plywood. It turned out pretty good, a few things I'd change, but not bad. Not my best finish work, but it is a workable little boat.
So, now what? Well, I've decided that in addition to the cuddy cabin outboard boat, the family and I need a fairly light rowing boat to dink around local lakes and streams with. This will be a rowing-only boat, as I have yet to learn to sail. Someday, but first things first. Plenty of hobbies for now. I had dreams originally of making a cartopper or a boat that fits in the pickup, which would negate the need for a second trailer to store at the house. However, it is pretty apparent that cartop boats that can hold 1 large adult, 1 small adult, 1 kid, and 1 small dog, are pretty much a pipe dream. And what I've found for pickup bed boats are frankly, well, just too darned ugly.
So I've settled on a narrow beam, lightly built boat that will live on a trailer, at least during transit. My last project was full of epoxy "stitch and glue" which someday, I will do again, but not this time. Just too messy. I want to be able to put a screw through a glued up piece of wood and go to bed, without having to wonder if the epoxy will kick in this weather or whatever else. It's great stuff, don't get me wrong, but this time I want something more "traditional". I don't have a ton of money available either, so it needs to be pretty much on the cheap. I did score a load of miscellaneous mahogany (meranti allegedly) planks for trim and frames, so that cuts down a lot of costs. Basically any hardwood needs are covered (frames, etc.). I want to be able to use plywood for the planking, and I'm not up for cutting lapstrakes this time.
So with those combinations in effect, the designs that are jumping out at me are:
18' bateau by John Gardner - plywood boat, minimal framing, lighlty built, but looks to have good capacity
19' bateau by same, pretty much the same boat but a tad bigger, downside is that I don't have a detailed plan available for this boat like I do the 18'.
Bolger long dory - this is the upsized Gloucester Gull. I think it might be just big enough, but I saw one with one guy in it, and it looked pretty well loaded up. Still might work.
That's my short list. I've looked at lots of other designs and have crossed them off for one reason or other, some I cant' even remember why.
Next installment: Picking the design and laying out the building jig.
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