Plan boat

Setting up the Strongback

Unfortunately we didnt take any photos of the laminating of the frames or the cutting of the bulkheads from marine plywood. This took roughly 100hrs, and the majority of January, 2009. Richard started keeping track of actual hours and what was accomplished on a "Wooden Boat" calender he received for Christmas. This has been very useful since I am writing this after such a long delay.

February was taken up with gluing approximately one to two half frames each day, as a large amount of the lofting table was taken up during the clamping and drying.

In March, it was time to start setting up the strongback. This is the rectangular frame made of 2x12 lumber, attached to the floor. It will support her and hold everything rigid during the building process.


Extensive bracing is required so that there is no movement of any of the parts. The bulkheads have to be in the correct location since they will become fixed to the hull during the stripping. There was lots of head scratching, interpretation, and double checking of the plans.


A plumb-bob and the DWL (water line) marked on each piece were used to help find the appropriate location of each piece.


Many of the bulkheads were only partial pieces (partitions), and will create the beginnings of interior walls and furniture when she is rolled. Bracing had to hold these structural pieces in mid air, so some of the braces needed to be redone as parts were added. And of course, this is all done upside down so port and starboard can get rather confusing.

The doorway seen below will be the entry into the forward storage/ head area, and sits just forward of where the mast will be.