Friday June 7, 2002
John
After far too long, my 8-foot version of the yacht tender is just about ready to launch.
Attached are several photos. The one in the pool was when I was checking the oar lock placement,
hence the clamps. The boat is built to the plans, using western red cedar for all the stripping
(cut on table saw with bead and cove done with a router.) The transom cap, top surface at the bow,
and the vertical surface at the bow are all done with thin strips of mahogany resawn with a bandsaw
from solid stock. I never found any mahogany bull-nose stop material at any of my sources, so the
gunwale strips and the stringers were also ripped from solid mahogany stock. Some months ago I spoke
with you about suggestions for making oars. At that time, you said you didn't really have any material
or references, so I did some web-surfing and found several articles that all referred to the same
source - a 1970s book called "Boats, Oars, and Rowing" by R.D "Pete" Culler. I ended up buying the
book (used, but in mint condition) at a marine book store in Washington State that was referred by
Amazon.com. The book is a delight, and would be of interest to anyone who is thinking about building
or using rowed craft. There's a web-site that has enough info to build the basic oars, that is based
on Pete Culler's design. (http://marina.fortunecity.com/breakwater/274/1999/0101/)There is also a
company in New England that makes this type of oar, which sell for $200 and up. You can make your own
for about $20. I built the oars shown in the photos following the guidelines in Pete Culler's book.
They are not at all like the stock oars you find at West Marine or other chandleries. I made these
out of clear Douglas Fir (because it was readily available at Home Depot), but pine, spruce, or any
other straight-grained wood should be fine. Anyone with the tools to build a strip boat should have
everything they need to build the oars, although I found a concave and convex spokeshave to make some
of the shaping a lot easier. (I plan to make more, so these tools are and "investment," of course!)
Following the suggestion in the book, I used Tung Oil to finish them. It's the first time I used
Tung Oil, but find it's really easy to apply, leaving the surface completely waterproof. It's also
very easy to refinish any scrapes or dings - if you sand them out well, the refinished area looks like
new. It's not an alternative to UV-resistant varnish for the boat, however. Some feedback on the plans:
everything you need to know is in there somewhere. More prominent advice on using narrower strips where
the hull curves sharply on the shorter version of the boat (8' or less) would have saved me some pain
I had a number of strips break after they were already in place until I started using some 1/2" widths
that bend much easier. Takes more strips, of course, but you don't waste any. Sources for some materials
are hard to find. I already mentioned the mahogany-bull nose material; The bronze eye strap was another
challenge: Stainless steel stuff is everywhere, and would certainly work as well, but, well, it just ain't
cool. I finally found an appropriate-sized bronze pad-eye (3" base) at Svendsen's in Alameda, California,
near my marina. It only took 3 months to get the piece, however, since the supplier, ABI in Santa Rosa, CA,
sources them from Taiwan, and only gets a new batch made when there's enough demand to justify a new
casting run. I've rambled enough. This project, although drawn out due to many interruptions, has me hooked
on boat-building. I'll be starting soon on a strip kayak (plans from Guillemot), and will definitely want
to build another tender at some point. While the first project was essentially successful, I really want
to be able to apply what I learned by trial and error. I'll put a check in the mail for the hull
identification plate. Best regards,
|
