David’s Boat Building Workshop
Boat building projects
I didn’t plan on doing any more posts about the boats. The stories has been told, embellished and generally classified as legends but alas there is apparently one more chapter to be chronicled. Our first paddling race/event of 2021 was in Pewaukee Wisconsin May 8th. An 8 1/2 mile paddle down the narrow and shallow…
You will notice at the end of the post, the cockpit will not be completed. Building this type of coaming has multiple steps that didn’t necessarily work out sequentially. So finishing this part of the boat will be in at least one other post.
I’ll use this post to move the project along. Wait, it’s white, or at least translucent. No it’s actually clear, it’s the light that is refracting through the fibers that cause it to turn white. In the photos of the embed coat, you can still see the texture of the weave. That’s because the light…
Sanded and ready, it was time to glass the hull. I used 4oz fiberglass cloth that came with the kit. 4oz means four ounces weight per square yard. I used about 15′ of cloth 50″ wide. That piece, before trimming, weighed how much? Anyone? Anyone? Fiberglass cloth comes in all kinds of weights and weaves….
The Great Auk has a generous size cockpit but I wanted to add some detail to accent the opening. I found quite a few examples on the interweb and chose a basic design. A recessed cockpit for lack of a better description, creates an “apron” around the cockpit. Some recesses are small areas in the…
When I built my Night Heron, I started just before Christmas and completed the final rigging the first week of April. When I opened the box to start the Great Auk in September, I really thought I was getting a head start and would have the boat built by Christmas, finish it out in January,…
Once the hull was planked, I needed to flip the boat but still keep the hull on the frame. I made a couple of cradles to the curve of the hull. I simply used the plans and chose a couple of form outlines, laid them down on some plywood and used pushpins to mark the…
After gluing in the lattice, I was able to complete the planking of hull. From the pictures, you can see that some of the joints are not all that good. I had the wood curving back and forth and it’s not always easy to get a perfect fit. Most of the planks had the bead…
When coming up with the wood design for the Great Auk I saw a number of boat photos using what I call a lattice detail. The detail uses small, alternating color pieces of wood oriented perpendicular to the planking, creating an eye-catching accent. Well that was the plan anyway. I thought using this lattice detail…
After getting the shear strip set, I started planking the hull. My design called for the sides to be linear to the chine. Stop! What on earth is a chine? Well I’m glad you asked. Warning: technical stuff! A chine is the where the side of the boat transitions to the bottom of the boat….
I’m going to take a moment to talk about the lumber I will be using. Cedar- The kit’s lumber (or planks as we call it in the boat building business) is primarily made up of clear (knot and blemish-free and very straight), premium Western Red and Alaskan Yellow cedar. After I placed the order for…
Editors note: You will probably notice that this and future posts might contain a little less content. I found myself skipping steps while writing so I will try this format and see how it works out. It could mean a little more technical content, but should mean more posts, a quicker read and maybe even…
I ordered the complete Great Auk kit which shipped with the building frame (you can also order the kit without, for example if you are building a second boat). The strongback is the part of the building frame that runs the length of the boat and holds the forms in place. It needs to be…