One summer I made a lot of weekend trips to Maine without the
family. To make the time more useful, I thought I'd try building a
couple of skiffs to mess around in. I enjoyed rowing when I was a
kid and thought it would be neat to teach my son how to row on the same
beach that I learned to row.
I figured that having two boats would be useful so that a beginning
rower would not be alone. I was also hoping that two boats would be not much harder
to build than one.
Each boat can be built from three sheets of plywood:
(1) 3/8" or 1/2" for the bottom, and
(2) 1/4" for the sides, seats and bulkheads.
A couple of 12ft 2x4s can supply the remaining wood.
I made patterns for all the parts and then made the boats from the
patterns. The boats are very similar, but there are
differences. The white boat is built a little heavier with 1/2"
bottom (instead of 3/8"), three full-length strakes (instead of 2 and
a 1/3) and a two piece gunwale.
Besides being lighter, the green boat has bronze hardware and two color
paint.
The strakes for the green boat are clearly visible in this photo on the
lawn. In the background are two old skiffs; the bottom one has a
cross-planked bottom and the top one is an old plywood model.
Moments like this are what I look forward to....
Still getting used as they grow up....
Questions or comments welcome - send email to "boats" at "sheepisland.com"....
John
Welcome!
