Build A Better Boat

I decided to give a small chronicle of the building of the family canoe Billington.  When I designed this boat and generated the canoe plans it was by request for a family friendly canoe that would simply give a day of fun on flat water and would allow for the cooler, the dog, the kids and anything else required for a day on the lake without having to worry about getting wet unless it was a choice.  Though on the surface this seems like a simple request, these canoe plans proved to be a design challenge. 

Using Epoxy as a glue to glue up a gunwale scarf joint.
 

Applying a simple fillet to a seat riser in a rowing Pea Pod

There are three signs in this area that pound the drums of the end of the summer boating season.  First, the army of cranberry pickers and haulers descend on the area, second, the wife puts the pumpkins on the front stoop and lastly, the sea grass goes to seed.  Yep, there is no denying it, fall is officially here.

When you first unrolled your boat plans you probably found different pieces of the boat which required various widths, sizes and shapes of lumber.  Chances are your best bet for milling out all of the members is from lumber that will not come from the local big box store but rather a good old fashion lumber yard.  One of the primary reasons for us working on this site is to pass along tips and techniques.  Over the years, necessity has proved a great motivator to either research or develop techniques which allows us to build our boats.  One such technique we had to figure out a long time ago was how to make a straight edge on a long piece of lumber.  One realization that you come to very fast when looking for the best lumber to fill the need of your boat plans, is that it may very well be what is called "In the Rough".  that simply means it goes from the saw conveyor to the shelf to you

If your boat plans call for a scarf joint, don't panic.  Given the right tools, this is a simple job to do.  the trick to getting past the anxiety of doing this is to simple get out the tools and do one.  The concept of a scarf joint isn't complicated.  It is a simple matter of of cutting a ramp on the wood which has a run of 8 times the rise.  That is to say that if you are working with 3/4" plywood, you want to have a scarf which is 6" deep.  The run can be as much as 12 times the rise and your boat plans may specify the ratio they want you to use.  For this article we will focus on plywood scarfing.  The concept is the same for dimensional lumber, however there are simpler methods for cutting scarfs in dimensional lumber than there are for plywood.  Practicing on inexpensive lumber is a good way to shake out the doubts.  In fact if you can scarf cheap plywood then the good stuff is a snap.  The reason for this is because of the quality of the interior plies of wood on say marine grade plywood versus the home building stuff.

If you have ever tried to joint two pieces of fiberglass with a lap and got frustrated with fraying ends, this article is for you.

there are a few reasons to join or lap fiberglass layers on boats.  Typically fiberglass comes in rolls of 60" or less in width.  So if you are working on a boat such as the Pea Pod used in this discussion, you will need to have more than one layer simply to cover the hull.  The second reason is to add strength to specific areas of the hull.  typically the bottom.  For instance if you are building a small wherry or canoe that you think will be dragged up on rocky shores, you will probably want a couple of layers on the bottom.   Some boat plans have specific requirements for fiberglass layups and you should never do less than what is recomended.

When I write how-to's such as this, I will inevitably get email giving me the exceptions so in an attempt to stop some of that before it happens, let me qualify that this technique is primarily for smaller boats using 10 oz or lighter fiberglass.

Are you ready for the secret, here it is...

Large clear timber is getting hard to come by.  This simple technique will cost you about $100 in tools, glue and jig material and give you a rock solid stem with a perfect shape. 
In years gone by, boat plans called for stems that were typically made from sawn timber in multiple pieces, and the pieces were glued together and assisted with through bolts.  Words like rabbett and knee are seldom used on newer plans when referring to the stem.  In fact most stems today are made from inner and outer stem pieces.  The inner stem is actually the integral part of the hull where the outer stem typically includes the cutwater and has a primary function of protecting the bow of the boat.
Not only are these two piece stems easier to build with, they are typically much stronger than a traditional stem.  If your boat plans are for building a plywood boat, it is almost a given that you will be using this technique.   Outer stems and cutwaters vary greatly from boat to boat so for the purpose of this discussion we will be talking about the lamination of the inner stem.

A little extra work,

a lot of extra strength!

Seat risers and plank seats are typical for boats like the freighter canoes and the Adirondack Guide Boat.  Seat risers also have a good role to play in canoes with scuppered gunwales.  If your boat plans call for scuppered gunwales or if you decided to add them on your own, they significanlty weaken the mounting points for the seats.  The seat riser is a way to have your cake and eat it too.  Even if your boat plans do not call for them you should consider if they are right for your situation.

This is a much simpler operation than you may think however the steps are important.  Installing seats in your boat accomplishes more than just giving you a place to sit.  In most cases it also helps to pull the boat together from side to side.  Basically it acts as a thwart, and as such requires good tight connections minimizing the mechanical  stresses associated with the forces pushing down on the seat, (namely your tush) as well as the forces acting to push the sides of the hull outward.

So many boat projects get stopped at the early stage of making frames and there is no reason for it.  When done the right way it could not be simpler.  When done wrong, I can think of nothing more harmful to the project.  Most things in a boat project can be fixed, manipulated or otherwise changed if need be.  However, if you are building a framed boat, the setup of the jig and frames is tantamount to pouring the foundation for a house.  If it isn't right, the rest of the project will be painful.

First, let's start by ending the argument of whether or not purchasing full size patterns with your boat plans is worth the money.  We get to talk to all kinds of people from all over the world and in many walks of life.  We constantly hear from people (typically men) that they have been carpenters or home builders or cabinet makers etc.... their entire adult life and can't imagine they should spend the extra $50 or $100 for full size templates.  Of the ones that we hear this from I would say that about 50% of them come back and end up getting the patterns after purchasing the boat plans.  I often wonder how many of the remainder of them don't come back for the patterns out of some misguided sense of pride.  This is a particularly foolish attitude when you consider that about the only thing building a house and building a boat have in common is there is wood involved.  When you consider the time, effort and money you are about to spend on building a boat, trying to save a few bucks on patterns seems a bit silly doesn't it.  That is not to say that a good set of plans do not give you enough information to make your own full size patterns, because they certainly should.  It simply means that unless you really know what  you are doing, buy the patterns with your boat plans.