Scratch Building

Call me crazy. I chose to build from scratch. I could have built from a kit or sent away for plans. There are some wonderful packages out there. I really liked Chesapeake Light Craft and Glen L, but I preferred to do it my way. I wanted my boat to be completely unique, totally mine, as custom as a signature or a fingerprint.

I did not draw anything out. I did not even make a model. I just started cutting and joining, letting one piece determine how the next would fit. Oddly enough everything came together. And why not? People have been building boats that way for thousands of years! 

Not My Father's Boat

Years ago, boats were often made with a solid wooden frame over which a plywood skin would be attached. "Skin-on-frame" construction had become state-of-the-art. It was solid and dependable. Plywood made everything easier often lighter. My dad built our first boat this way. 

The trouble with this was water. Leaks were common. Rot was always a threat. Paints and varnishes were pretty soft. So we had to keep up by sanding and brushing on new stuff.  

Epoxy changed all that. It offered up a much harder finish than paint or varnish. And, with a test strength of 1,300 pounds per square inch, the plywood seams would never work their way loose and leak. Epoxy was, in fact, so strong that a supporting framework was no longer necessary. 

Nowadays a plywood hull (or skin)  is made a series of thin plywood pieces which are temporarily stitched together with wires (or some other material) and then joined with a thick epoxy bead or fillet. After the epoxy hardens, the stitches are removed. The holes for the wires are filled with more epoxy and the entire hull performs as though it were one continuous piece of wood. Stitch-and-glue is the new state-of-the-art.

Fiberglass is Old School

Here in Minnesota, I  would imagine that 90%  of our beloved small craft are made from glass. Aluminum is , of course, a popular second choice  followed  by a percentage of other materials. Wood is pretty rare, definitely an "old school" curiosity featured in vintage boat shows and such.

The truth is that fiberglass has "issues." Water works into it and creates blisters. Fiberglass is not a good structural material. So, it is still used with wooden substructures. If (when) water gets to the wood, it rots fast. Fiberglass is also heavy, not good for boating, especially for fuel economy. Most importantly, it is not easy on the environment. During manufacture, the glass was sealed with a polyester resin, which released a highly toxic gas into the air, ultimately contributing the demise of the ozone layer. Lastly, fiberglass can never be recycled.

Old School is New Again

On the other hand, epoxy/wood boats offer up some real advantages for boating in  an urban  environ. They weigh half that of their fiberglass counterparts. very useful for handling: loading up the car and launching at any number of locations, many that have no ramps. At 65 pounds and 7 feet long, you can store it in a mudroom or even your apartment.  No need for a trailer: two people can carry it down to the water and even carry it back home.

Epoxy/wood, stitch-and-glue is totally "green."  The chemistry involves little or no air pollution.  Wooden boats can be recycled. Thanks to epoxy, old school is new again!