How an Amateur Builds a Boat!
An old friend of mine had built me a row boat in the mid-seventies. Heather and had used it a lot, having grown up in a rural area near the Atlantic Ocean. Our village also was fairly close to a number of lakes and rivers, so the boat had gotten a lot of use. From just plain rowing it around for pleasure to fishing and camping expeditions, it served us well. In its latter years we used a small outboard motor, but for the most part, we just rowed it from place to place. Like all things do, the boat eventually got old and became unsafe to use. We'd always thought it would be nice to have another one, but with the advent of children and moving to another village somewhat farther inland, the idea remained just that . . . an idea.
We have a small lake or large pond, depending on your definition, behind our house. It isn't used much for anything because of its relatively small size and its isolation from other properties. It seemed like an ideal candidate for teaching the children a bit on water safety and learning to handle a boat. The problem was, we didn't have a boat anymore. And, I wasn't about to buy one at the prices charged today. Could I build one? I never had before, and I really didn't have any plans. All I had was a recollection of my late friend putting one together for me in over twenty years ago. The family was enthusiastic, and so we decided to give it a try. Around the first of October 1998 I had developed a general idea of how to go about it.
One has to realize that I had never built a boat before. I'd seen it done only once and this was over twenty-five years ago. It was built by an elderly gentleman who was a master at it. He had no plans or special equipment. The plans were in his head and the equipment he used consisted of simple hand tools. He used material that was available locally and he kept the cost to a minimum. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I was just an amateur. This was going to be a challenge. It was going to be a challenge because I was going to do it right or not do it at all. And I was also going to the way I had seen it done before. I probably could have got plans from some boat building company. Maybe I could have even got a kit and put it together. If I did that, then I might as well buy a boat and be done with it. Having made the decision to go ahead and do it on my own, I began collecting the material and got started.
Getting Started
My recollection of boat building was coming back, and I knew that one of the most important parts was getting the correct angles. For the type of boat I was building, the stem was crucial. The stem is a piece of hardwood that forms the bow, or front edge of the boat. Once this is cut correctly, pine boards are attached and they form the sides. If the stem is not cut precisely, then the sides will not line up and you end up with a mess and have to start over.
I had a general idea of how to cut the stem, but first I had to get a piece of clear hardwood, straight and free from knots, etc. I needed a piece about 15 to 16 inches long, and about 4 inches square. Of course, the local lumber vendors didn't carry anything like that. I was referred to a specialty store that dealt strictly in hardwood. I sketched out what I wanted and went off to see what was available. I really wasn't sure of the type of wood to use . . . all I knew was that it had to be hardwood because the bow of the boat is the part that will typically take the most stress and will, over time, be bumping up against rocks, tree stumps, etc. I had a number of choices . . . maple, oak, birch, etc. I looked at the cost and talked it over with the folks at the hardware store. We finally settled on mahogany, mostly because it was as good or better than any of the others for what I wanted, and it was the least expensive.
Getting the Stem Right
The picture above, and the one previous to it, show the stem and how it had to be cut. I was only going from memory, so I had to make a best guess on the angles. Not only does the stem have to be notched out correctly , the side boards have to be cut at the proper angle so the bow will tilt forward. It took a lot of patience and time to cut this correctly, because I only had one chance to get it right. If I made a mistake, it would be back to the hardwood store for another piece of mahogany. As you can see, once the stem is finished, it's time to attach the pine sideboards.
Where do we go from here?
Looking forward from the stern, you can see that I now had a vee shape, with pine sideboards spread out at about a 40-degree angle. I would have preferred to use 14-inch pine boards for the sides, but all that was available locally were 12-inch ones. Since this was going to be a small boat anyhow, I decided to go with 12- inch sides rather than order in 14-inch boards at a much higher cost.
It is essential that these sideboards be attached to the stem securely. I used 2 and a 1/2 inch galvanized nails and copious amounts of waterproof wood glue. When the boat was bent into shape, there would be a great deal of stress on this area. I guess the most important thing here is patience. I had to give the glue 4-5 days to dry. This is not usually necessary, but this boat was being built in an unheated shed in October. The temperature was 10-12 C in the mornings and often dipped to near freezing during the nights. I soon realized that this job would have been a lot easier had I done it in July or August!
I talked over the process of bending the sides to form the shape of the boat with a few of the locals who had seen it done before. Most felt that I would have to use steam or some other sort of heat to soften the wood or it would break. I thought back to the last time I had seen this done and I was sure they could be bent without heat. You need to have spreaders, or molds, to temporarily place inside the boat so that it will take the proper shape. Of course, I didn't have anything like that so they had to be made first. For the shape I wanted, I needed three.
Spreaders in Place and Sideboards Bent
I made the three spreaders from some scrap lumber I had laying around. As you can see from the picture above, they weren't very fancy! And they really didn't have to be because their only purpose is to hold the boat in shape until the stern and bottom are in place. Drawing the sideboards together so they wrapped around the spreaders required a lot of force . . . something I couldn't do without a bit of mechanical advantage. I first made a set of wooden clamps to go over the ends of the boards so that the pressure would be distributed evenly. Then I made up a small block and tackle arrangement using two pulleys in a double sheave configuration that gave about a four to one advantage.
And now the psychological pressure was on! I had to bend the boards evenly, get the spreaders in place and make sure I didn't snap the sideboards. Since this was a family project, I enlisted the help of Heather and the kids. I got the pulleys set up to do the bending, then had a helper hold each spreader in place. I guess all the preparation paid off, because it took literally five minutes to pull the ends of the sideboards together and shape the boat. I left the pulley arrangement in place and cut and installed the stern from a two inch plank. Because of the shape of the spreaders, the sideboards had curved in nicely at the bottoms, giving the boat it's characteristic shape of gradually widening at the top. At its widest point, it was about 51 inches at the top and just under four feet on the bottom.
I then shaped the stem with a plane so that it was pointed rather than than square, and the general shape of the boat was completed. We still couldn't remove the spreaders or the pulleys because the bottom and seats had to be installed to ensure this shape was maintained.
A Boat Needs a Bottom
We flipped the boat over and began the job of installing the plywood bottom. The first job was to ensure that the edges of the sideboards were flat. Because of the curvature introduced by the bending of the sideboards and the general shape of the boat, they needed to be planed a bit to ensure the plywood would fit snugly to prevent leaks.
Because this boat was almost 11 feet on length (10 feet, seven inches), a single sheet of 4' by 8' plywood would not be enough for the bottom. I first had to install a 3 foot piece near the bow, leaving a little less than eight feet remaining for a full sheet as shown above. Then the full sheet was laid on and everything was nailed to the sideboards with two-inch galvanized nails. Everywhere two surfaces met, large amounts of waterproof wood glue were applied to seal and strengthen the joints. Where the two pieces of plywood butted, a splicing piece was installed on the inside (see below, where Kevin's feet are) and this was saturated with glue and nailed securely in place. I was a bit concerned that this would be a source of leaks, but my recollection of my previous boat told me this would not happen. And, as it turned out, the boat was as tight as a drum. Once the bottom was in place and the glue dry, we cut the excess plywood off and removed the pulleys. It finally was starting to look like a boat!
Installing the Seats
The next step was installing the seats. This was not difficult and as soon as they were in place, the spreaders could be removed. To add strength to the boat, we installed brass plated angle brackets at key points . . . around the plank that formed the stern and on all three seats. Because the center and rear seat spanned about four feet, I had to place a support under the middle to ensure they would carry the weight. We still had a fair amount of work to do, but the boat was coming along well and we only had about nine or ten days labor invested. This was not full-time as it consisted of a couple of weekends and a few hours in the evenings after work each day.
A Few Final Touches
With the bottom on and the seats installed, I turned my attention to the strips that went underneath to protect edges of the plywood, to the gunwales, and a few other odds and ends. The gunwales are inch by one and one half pine strips that run the entire length of the boat along the top of the sideboards. They add strength, protect the edges of the boards and provide a place to attach the oar locks. Like everything else, they are securely nailed and glued in place. One of the last things to do is to install a moveable foot rest for rowing. This can be moved by sliding it back and forth on a one by three inch piece of strapping in the middle of the boat. It is held in place with a wooden wedge. This makes it adjustable depending on the length of the rower's legs. Darlene is giving me a hand to make sure this is done properly.
Kathryn and Darlene are the Painters!
As with any boat, paint is essential. We used oil based marine paint because this boat would be exposed to the weather for prolonged periods of time. I must admit, painting is not my favorite thing to do, and I am not particularly good at it. However, this was a family project, and both my daughters have an artistic talent. In particular, Kathryn is a good painter. She took the lead and with some help from Darlene, they gave the boat two coats of gray paint. Again, because of the cool weather, it took longer than usual to dry, but by the evening of 1 November 1998, we were ready to give it the ultimate test. Would it float? Would it leak? Two good questions!
Launch Day - 1 November 1998!
On Sunday, 1 November 1998 (co-incidentally, my daughter Kathryn's birthday), the paint was dry and the weather was cool and a bit breezy. Michael and I carried our newly constructed vessel down to the water. Since this wasn't an ocean liner, we bypassed the traditional bottle of champagne . . . we didn't even invite any of the local dignitaries. We just pushed it into the water and looked for leaks. Nothing were apparent, but I couldn't seem to get a volunteer to try it out! The whole family came down to watch the event but I guess all the mumbling about "this is the first one of these I've ever built" and comments like "I think it's waterproof glue" were coming back to haunt me.
Having a fair bit of confidence (and no other brave souls to take it out for me), so I decided that I'd try it out myself. As you can see, all went well and it didn't sink. As a matter of fact, it's got a lot of use in the past three or four weeks. Four kids now know how to row, know the importance of wearing a lifejacket and have started exploring the little islands and parts of the pond that were only visible from shore for the past number of years.
By the first of December the pond starts to ice over. That will be the end of our fall project. In hindsight it probably would have been better to have built this in June, but there were beaches and barbecues to think about then. In any event, it is finished and has been well tested. After being stored inside this winter, no doubt it will go back into service in the spring. The local residents of the pond (ducks, muskrats, a turtle and sometimes a pair of beavers) will have to adjust to a bit of company. And, if the ducks who are just mildly curious this fall are any indication, all should go well once April rolls around.
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Last updated on Thursday, 12 April 2007