3rd Scale Wherry

Comment

Comment by Frank Thomas on July 19, 2009 at 9:30pm

2 canoes huh? I've heard that a man never builds just one boat. I'd love to do a cedar stripper too. They are beautiful. Also a pocket cruiser like a the Winter Wren II by Sam Devlin.

Then my daughter wants me to build a rowing shell someday. Wouldn't be great to be a full time boat builder and still support your family!!!

Comment by Geoff Eldred on July 17, 2009 at 3:43pm

I know what you mean about the cost of marine materials. I buily my kayak out of 1/4" luan floor underlayment instead of Okume for the same reason. It would have worked fine if I'd coated the entire boat in epoxy to seal it, but again that was a cost issue. It's held up relatively well but does have a few delaminations that I have to fix. I'm planning to do a cedar strip canoe as soon as funds are available (who knows when that might be). The wood for those is not that expensive but the fiberglass and epoxy is what gets you. My biggest dilema is deciding what design to do. I have my eyes on a really fast 18' canoe called the Winisk which is similar to a kevlar canoe owned by a friend of mine but I really want a boat that I can take the boys out in. After paddling my friends boat earlier this month with his 6 year old daughter in the front, (my friend was in his other boat, a super fast 15' single canoe) I've detemined there's just no good way to overcome a 150lb (ok, maybe 175lb) weight difference in that kind of boat. I took Reid out for a while in the single with him sitting directly in front of me and that works really well, but not when he and Rowan get a little older. Maybe I'll need to build two canoes.....

Comment by Frank Thomas on July 11, 2009 at 1:58pm

Thanks Geoff. I am thinking about building one more scale model to further develop my skills. Besides right now I can't afford the cost of sea worthy materials for a full scale. The Okoume marine plywood 4x8 3/8" alone is $100 a sheet and I'll need 4 sheets. The scale model using non-marine materials cost me maybe $60. I want to do the second model all natural (or bright). That will really make me do well on my joinery. With this finished model I plan to build a sort of cradle that will hold the boat with the high points of the cradle supporting a glass top making it a coffee table. I like to see your kayak sometime. I think a cedar strip canoe is in my future.

Comment by Geoff Eldred on July 10, 2009 at 3:40pm

Love the boat! When do you start the full size version? I need to get around to making some repairs to my wooden kayak to get it seaworthy again. Neat idea using Sketch Up. I've designed a couple projects with that and also use it at work occasionally.