Small Boat Restoration: Penobscot 14 ST. JACQUES

Penobscot 14 ST. JACQUES

25 Dec 2013: We decided we needed to build a pretty wooden boat to excite kids about sailing, row for fun and to sell pirate wares at local craft fairs. I looked on the interweb and one of the first "pretty rowboats" that popped up was the Penobscot 14 designed by Arch Davis. It reminded me of our Lugger, similar fair lines, lapstrake construction, reverse sheer transom and a simple gunter rig. The boat we will build already has a name, St. Jacques, named after a snow-brig that the Skipper's ancestor Captain Pierre Surget sailed during the American Revolution time period.

Here is what the boat will look like. (Spoiler Alert: She got a sprit rig).

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(Image: Arch Davis Design)

I spoke to Arch a few weeks earlier about the boat and it sounds like it will fit well in our Bay. I also may be able to use local cypress for the build. Ordered the plans, patterns and guidebook and they arrived quickly, just before Christmas. Our hull will be number 1333.

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Sped off to the Lowes Christmas Eve day to get lumber for the building jig. Found some white pine that will get us started. It is only 12 feet, ideally I needed a 12'3" piece, but I'll adapt. Used the Highlander trailer to bring the lumber home.

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Laid out two 12 foot sides for the jig and made the first cut for the jig end pieces.

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Captain Jack picked the truest edge for the top of the jig and held the boards steady while I screwed on the ends. Used 2 1/2 inch exterior screws.

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The jig is being built upside down right now. I cut out a board for the stinger that will hold the stem (bow).

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Cut another 1 x 12 diagonally to be the stinger knees, flipped the jig and screwed the into place.

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Cut 6 legs from pressure treated 4x4s.

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Installed legs on each corner and mid span.

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Cut a diagonal brace, but goofed up and cut it too long. The brace is only supposed to go from the corner to inside the first cross brace.

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Here's the jig brace recut and screwed in with drywall screws. I cut a nice notch to try and fit the wrong board :)

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Some of the power tools used so far.

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Made a leg for the stinger and decided to add a little tool and supply shelf. Maybe the Pettit Paint fairy will see this and drop off some gifts :)

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Cut boards that the station frames will be attached to.

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I set Station Zero 2 inches back from the stinger end and screwed the station frame jig board into place. They need to be placed exactly every 2'4". It was getting late so I'll recheck the measurements when the sun is up. That little scrap piece on the stinger was added to provide a level surface for the tape measure foot, and it will be removed once measurements are approved.

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The bateau is 14'0', just a bit longer than a Sunfish. Here is the Sunfish MERCI checking out the building jig.

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Here's what the tool shelf looked like at the start of the build. It will be interesting to see what tools get added before launching. (Edit: We added not only a few tools, but a carriage house before the build was finished!)

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Traced the stem onto a 1/4 inch piece of oak plywood. Placed carbon paper under mylar pattern, taped edges of pattern down and used the rounded end of a pair of scissors to rub marks on vs pricking with an awl. It came out pretty good, now I need a batten to fair out the curves.

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26 Dec 2013: Cut out the notch for the stem.

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Cut out the stem pattern. Cut out a little of the diagonal brace also, oops.

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The pattern will be used to cut out 3 3/4 inch stems, which will be laminated. The top of the stem will rest in the jig like this.

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I didn't notice that some of the stations were marked on the forward edge of the jig braces. After I got them measured and placed correctly, I marked the Station on each frame with an arrow to the proper edge.

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Also marked the centerline from Station 0 back to the transom.

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29 Dec 2013:Moved the jig into the sailboat shack, the other boats will keep ST JACQUES company and tell sailing stories while he is being built.

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Put a 4 wheel dolly under one end of the jig and it rolled real nice.

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Traced out 3 stems, made them a little proud so they can be routed flush to the pattern.

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The teak Arne Vodder swivel back chairs make nice supports!

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Took a break to mail out some signed 1st Edition Sunfish Owner's Manuals! Get one today

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Cut out 3 stems, 6 pieces total because they are cut from 1x10 lumber and then butt jointed and glued together.

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Screwed the pattern to the stem and used a flush bit router to trim the blanks to size. Ideally you'd glue up a 3 stems and then route therm all at once on a router table with a larger bit, but I had neither the bit or the table, so I opted to route one individually then screw them together.
Update: Then I re-read the builder's instructions and what I should have done was trim the center stem flush to the pattern by itself, then add the outer stems and trim those flush to the center stem. Witchcraft! :)

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Gluing and screwing all 6 pieces of the stem with Titebond III waterproof glue.
Update: Follow up with Arch, epoxy is optimum for this, learning along the way. But the stem is still holding. :)

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Cutting out frame 2-4, the forward bulkhead. I used pine frame and oak plywood for this, would have preferred cypress and okume, but it will be sealed with epoxy. I may put another face on this bulkhead when the marine plywood shows up.
Update: Yep, I took the bulkhead off of the temporary frame, trimmed out the center of the oak plywood, flipped it over and put marine grade okume on the flip side.

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Built the temporary frame for the building jig.

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01 Jan 2014: Selected a "moaning chair" for today's activities. For those of you not familiar, the moaning chair is defined by Chapelle as "a comfortable seat from which the boat can be easily seen and in which the builder can sit, smoke, chew, drink or swear as the moment demands. Here he should rest often and think about his next job. The plans should be at hand and here he can lay out his work. By doing so he will often be able to see mistakes before they are serious and avoid the curse of the amateur boatbuilder: starting a job before what has to be done to get it right." (Chapelle, Boatbuilding 1941). Now for our purposes, Ms Adrienne has also suggested that we have "cheering chairs" for the "usual visitors."

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Since I glued the routed the stem pieces THEN glued them together, I needed to trim them a bit after the glue dried. I set the flush trim bit bearing to ride on the center stem piece, routed one side, flipped and sanded the other.

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Sanded the stem with 80 grit.

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Skipper Audrey and Capn Jack test fit the stem to the jig and Station 2-4 bulkhead.

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Stem test fit in the jig and Station 2-4. Edit: The stem is sitting high in the notch. The face still needs to be beveled and the notch needs to be beveled also to match the rise of the stem. Once done, the stem will fit deeper in the notch and a piece of plywood for the garboard will lay flush from stem to frame.

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02 Jan 2014: Went to Ozark Hardwoods in Pensacola, FL to pick up some 1/4" okume marine plywood. Turns out the plywood is 6mm.

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They had some cool Lineberry lumber carts.

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The owner Richard made an awesome kayak.

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I like the epoxy shadow.

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OBTW the shop, tool, stock of hardwood, and 50 unit storage facility on 2 acres are for sale for 550K. If you buy it tell Richard I sent you and I get the kayak as a commission.

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I love my Dodge Grand Caravan, it carries a full sheet of plywood! Or 7 people. Or pulls a trailer.

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Capn Jack tried out our coffin smoothing plane on the stem. Blade needs to be dressed and sharpened, but otherwise it did some good work.

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The boatyard cat is LOTS of help, she secured this piece of plywood for us...

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03 Jan 2014: Headed to Wilson Cypress in Milton and grabbed 2 1x10x16s for the stringers and sheer clamps. They take great pride in hand picking great, clean board for my projects. The Sunfish trailer works great as a high speed lumber cart.

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Richard at Ozark Hardwood ripped the stringers and sheer clamps, even let me help and didn't charge me extra for my labor. My brother Kirk used to have 3 labor rates at his shop, $10 per hour for labor, $20 if you watched, $40 if you helped :) Then we picked a piece of 1x10x12 white oak for the keel, put a straight edge on it, planed both sides and ripped it to 3 inches.

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Swung by Magnolia Bolt next to pick the stainless steel screws, they treated me great and I got to go pull the screws with them. I got 1100 screws for $42. And they ship!

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Traced out the transom pattern, forward and aft bulkheads on the okume. Ooops, I could have used cheapo plywood for the transom pattern, oh well, now I have a real nice pattern.

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04 Jan 2014: Going to use my new old P W Co clamp.

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Cut out the transom pattern, and the bulkheads.

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I redid the Station 2-4 bulkhead with okume, ditched the oak because it was not marine grade. Put the wood clamp to work.

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Started beveling the stem with a Stanly SB 4, first time and it went ok.

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05 Jan 2014: Drawing inspiration from Jack's boat, circa 1971.

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Ripped a 1x8 to start building temporary frames.

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Picked up some more tools and materials for the build.

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Gave the boys a clamp each and then asked to borrow them.

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Ripped 2 sheer clamps to 3/4x 1 1/2. I didn't realize that they were a different size than the stringers when we ripped the cypress yesterday, so we made them all 3/4 by 3/4. So now I have 14 stringers, plenty of spares and the 2 sheer clamps.

Put up some temporary wall on the sailboat shack, so now it is the Small Boat Restoration Shop :) The front and back walls can be rolled up. I'll set up the router, chop saw and band saw in there, and a couple of clamp lights.

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06 Jan 2014: Working on the frame for the transom, picked up some select pine. Will cut rough shape for top, bottom and sides, put together with half laps, then trim to pattern.

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Went to Miss Donna's Antiques and picked up a try square, plane, marking gauge and awl. I got the folding 2 foot ruler there a few months ago and I am amazed at how handy it is to use.

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07 Jan 2014: Grabbed a couple of clamp lights so I can work early evening, move them around as needed.

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Picked up a inexpensive Blue Hawk router with table for $90 at Lowes. Used it to trim the pine 2-4 frame to the new okume plywood frame. It was a lot nicer than doing it by hand and went quick.

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Reattached the bulkhead to the temporary frame, used the framing square and try square to get a good centerline. Edit: I was excited to play with the plywood and got out of sequence with the build, Arch tells me how to build a nice square jig to line up the temporary frame parts in the plans, in sequence of course.

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Going to put wheels on the jig so I can move it around if needed. oops, these wheel's attaching plates turned out to be too big for the 4x4 legs...

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..so spend some time in the moaning swivel rocker to contemplate whether to get smaller wheels or jury rig these......time's up, off to Lowes for smaller wheels :)

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I turned the jig on its side to put on the wheels, and hey, this would make a good spar bench!

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Put swivel casters on the middle legs and extension, and swivel locking casters on each end leg. Now it can pivot like a lumber cart

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I'll lock the wheels down, shim the wheels to leave jig as necessary, and maybe attach a strap before I start beveling. I foresee needing to move the jig out on turning day IOT flip the boat.

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I use my Uncle's Craftsman tool kit a lot, mostly the ratchet, scredriver and standard wrenches. It's handy to tote out to my work site, saves me lots of trips to get the right size tools.

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08 Jan 1014: Got the shop set up today, moved some saws in. Also put up dodgers all around the shed, so I can work during rain.

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Cut out the spreaders for the rest of the frames. The cut out, not one, not two, but three transom frames before I got the right size blank. My fault, should have followed the building guide! Here is transom frame 2.0 lounging in today's moaning chair, I have plans for parts of it elsewhere.

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The usual visitors...

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Tried using the table saw to kerf the half laps by hand, couldn't find the miter gauge (which I have never used), that is scary without the right guide set up because you're cutting blind. Chewed up the the first board's lap pretty good, so I'll go contemplate for a while on something else.

Added some line, quick release snaps, rings and eyestraps to my "shade sail" aka dodger. Testing out some ideas so I can transform the shed/shop depending on wind/temp.

Wind died down, beautiful day on the Bay.

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09 Jan 2014: Cut the shoulder at the top of the stem. I tried using a bandsaw, but the blade wandered on one side, so I switched to a jigsaw. The cut was very rough, so I smoothed it out a bit with a rasp. One side is cut a little short, so I am leaving it alone until I get to the point where I pull together the sheer clamp, stem, breast hook and stem facing and see what it needs. I might have to graft a piece back in.

I tried the bandsaw kerf for the half laps, I don't have the skill right now to set it up, so I switched to the router method. SO I needed a wider router bit. Went to Lowes and found a nice 15 piece router bit set for $45, came home and started routing the half laps. Of course I tried the easy way first, to just guide the router by hand along the cut line, and I wandered. So for the next 3 boards I clamped on a guide fence and got nice straight cut lines, When I put the frame together, the first piece was off, so I recut a new board for the portside frame, rerouted it and the transom frame half laps together great! Glue up tomorrow.

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Got too late to do boat building, so I started fiddling with a carpenter's trestle. I came across the term while looking for information on tools in a 1918 book called Farm Mechanics. Sounds like just the thing I need to steady pieces while I work on them. We had some hunks of cedar, beams from our covered porch in Texas, that were being used as benches and plant stands, so I decided to use those. They'll still get to be benches or plans stand when not being trestles, but now will have new legs. Here is my adaptation so far.

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10 Jan 2014: Used epoxy and screws to glue up the transom frame. West System 105 Epoxy Resin, 205 Fast hardener because it is high 50s today, 406 colloidal silica for filler. Mixed it up between mayonnaise and peanut butter consistency. Because of the lower temp it did not kick off right away, but a helper might be needed to get all the clamps and blocks positioned, or use 206 Slow hardener. Another tip would be to use spring clamps to hold it while the blocks (to prevent clamp marks) and bar clamp were applied. And the Island of misfit boat parts keeps growing under the work bench.

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Screws go in from the aft face, they won't show because the transom is faced with wood or plywood.

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Forward face of transom frame.

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Shop stove taking care of some yard debris and scraps.

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Pricked pattern holes for frame 7-0.

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Cut blanks for frame 7-0, bandsawed them out married up so I'll have the same wiggles on both sides :), them put on butt blocks, cleats, legs and spreaders.

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Beveled the stem notch at Station 2-4, test fit the stem and Station 7-0. I need to level the jig before all the frames go on.

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Quittin time.

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11 Jan 2014: Every board for the frames and boat has been through the house so far.

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Jack's sailboat circa 1971.

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Beautiful day, waiting for the usual visitors to stop by. Added a flag.

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Moved the flag.

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Transom frame rough cut out.

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Pattern screwed on for routing.

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Inside edges done.

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12 Jan 2014: Laying out frame for Station 4-8 and 9-4. Need to cut a miter so wood can be butt jointed.

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Cut both sides.

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Marked the transom sheer clamp and stringer locations.

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Pricked the pattern.

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Stacked the frame parts and screwed them together so they can be trimmed together and match up port starboard.

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Added cleats to the frames. This piece of old mahogany Sunfish backer block from Merci found its way into the fray.

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Glued up Station 11-8 bulkhead.

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Station 11-8 needs to be built up, and transom frame beveled. We will be ready for keel soon.

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13 Jan 2014: Shop tour. Nothing like rain on a tin roof!

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Keel is tacked down to bevel the bottom of the stem, fit transom and mark inside for routing the edges.

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Measuring back from Station 11-8 to find position of reverse shear transom.

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14 Jan 2014: Working on shear clamp notch on the transom.

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Shadow puppets.

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Shear clamps clamped on.

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15 Jan 2014: Went to check out a small local sawmill, we might get some live oak or long leaf pine milled for the boat or our new shop.

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Had some rocks delivered for the driveway, but the help was goofing off instead of spreading them.

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16 Jan 2014: Took a trip to Schurr Sails in Pensacola to drop of plans for the Gunter rig main and jib.

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Here are some sail color options.

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Spread more rocks, and built up some parrel beads for the sliding Gunter rig.

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17 Jan 2014: Cap'n Jack scored a Stanley No 4 block plane in original box. Inspectors approve.

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Cut the keel to length at transom.

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Added the offset centerboard keel strip, bonded with West System 105 epoxy and Fast Hardener (air temp 50 degrees F)..

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Swung by Miss Donna's Antiques, found a rabbet plane and finger plane.

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Marked off lines at bulkheads and removed keel in prep for routing 1/4 round edges on the inboard edges of the cockpit.

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19 Jan 2014: Routed the inboard edge of the keel that shows in the cockpit.

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Cut the centerboard slot.

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Epoxied keel to stem, bulkheads and transom.

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20 Jan 2014: Working on the stringer miter.

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Cut and fit the sheer clamps at bow, bulkheads and transom.

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21 Jan 2014: The dodgers are working great to keep the wind down. They are set on yardarms wirh parrel beads so I can furl them on nice days an open up the shed.

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Split a stringer at the end, but there is still a lot of stringer left on the other end, so I moved it forward and cut the bevel again.

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Fit 3 sets of stringers, 2 more sets to go!

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23 Jan 2014: Fit more stringers.

25 Jan 2014: Fit last 2 sets of stringers.

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I cut off each extra piece at the transom as I went along.

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Looking good, maybe we'll stop here :)

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26 Jan 2014: Sick day :(

27 Jan 2014: Removed stringers and rounded inboard edges that will show inside the boat. Then epoxied the stringers and sheer clamp to the stem, bulkheads and transom.

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Used some painters tape to reduce the amount of epoxy that squeezed onto adjacent surfaces.

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Tied a bow line to the sheer clamp so the boat won't float away...

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15 Feb 2014: Cut some pine strips for laminating the stem facing.

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Wrapped the stem so the facing doesn't stick, the lamination will be shaped then removed for planking.

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Started bending the laminations to the stem. Used West Systems 105 resin/ 206 slow hardener/ 406 filler to bond the strips.

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Stem facing drying, we had some cracks at the sharpest bend, so we clamped it down and we'll check it out once it dries, it might have to be redone.

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17 Mar 14: St Jacques moved to the garage for beveling and planking.

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12 Jun 2014: Back in the garage!

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13 Jun 2014: Picked out some cypress to make a new stem.

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16 Oct 2014: The first stem was cracked at the sharp bend at the base of the stem, so it was scrapped. The first stem's laminations were not a consistent thickness, that contributed to them cracking when they were bent. I went over to Fred's house and he helped cut out another stem using his larger shop saws. Fred has built two Penobscot 14s and has become an invaluable resource, one of his boats was an award winner at the Madisonville Boat Show.

This time I am trying cypress from my local mill, and Fred mentioned that he used white oak for his boats.

1x6 cypress, ready to rip lengthwise. The boards were cut from a 10 foot board, and are long enough to wrap the stem.

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Cutting the strips to about 3/16 inch thickness. Fred used push sticks to hold the board tight to the fence and push it the last bit, I helped guide the board as it came out of the saw.

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14 Oct 2014: Dilemma...work on St Jacques or read WoodenBoat Issue 241? I think I'll get the stem facing glued up first...

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Fred has built 2 Penobscot 14s, helped me by ripping some cypress into 3/16 inch thick strips. We ripped enough to build up the stem(bow) facing to 1 1/4 inch.

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Stem facing laminations will be epoxied then stacked up like this. I will also add a screw in the top end to keep that end stable as we bend the rest to the stem.

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WEST SYSTEM Epoxy 105 Resin with 206 Slow Hardener and 406 Colloidal Silica to thicken to about a syrup consistency. I mixed up 3 batches of about1/3 cup to cover front and back of boards. Left the outside facing boards as clean as I could. And put down some plastic trash bags to keep the work area clean.

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Clamping the stem facing to the stem. I put some plastic bags around the stem, because once the facing dries to shape it is removed, then reinstalled after planking.

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Stem facing clamped.

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Stem facing clamped. Also we wiped off the epoxy "squeeze out."

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Started rough beveling the keel using a power planer, cleaned up with a jack plane.

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Sunset.

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15 Oct 2014: Removed the transom frame brace.

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19 Oct 2014: Tracing the transom face for the Penobscot 14 with the 1/2 pattern. I used the square to put vertical lines on the okume blank so I could square up the pattern piece to the grain.

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Cutting out the transom face.

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DeWalt jigsaw used to cut out the transom face. The inner line will be helpful to know wher to brush on the epoxy and to line up the board. Tip: I like to tie my cords together so they don't pull apart.

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Do you think the Skipper will share the chips? And check out those boat shoes!

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Transom face epoxied onto frame and clamped. Used my Alcort clamps. One end of the boat is complete!

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19 Oct 2014: Clamps removed from stem facing and plastic wrap removed. The facing will be set aside, Need some planks now.

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21 Oct 2014:
I read an epoxy tip from Geoff Kerr of Two Two Daughters Boatworks, he said he leaves the epoxy cups out so he can check them the next day to see how the epoxy cured. That way he gets the warm fuzzy feeling that everything bonded together. I'd say this epoxy cured great!

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Trimming the transom face, showing the compact router positioning. I highly suggest two hands for this tool, it can get loose and gouge you or the workpiece.

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Set the flush bit on the trim router to trim the transom face.

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Finishing the bevel on the transom face.

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Cleaning up the edge of the transom face.

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Transom face trimmed, keel beveling is next.

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?25 Oct 2014: St Jacques has a new Sister, we picked up a 1959 Sorg Runabout, a 15 foot cedar planked motorboat.

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"Willow" sits on a classic TeeNee trailer.

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05 Nov 2014: Shop stool will help me reach the keel of the Penobscot 14 for beveling.

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Rough bevel with the power planer, then cleaned it up with a jack plane.

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17 Nov 2014: Marking line for scarf. 6mm plywood is approx 1/4 inch so an 8 to 1 scarf would be about 2 inches per board. I put a scrap piece of shelving underneath that is white, so if I see white start to come through the bottom feather edge then that is a limit.

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Worked the belt sander back and forth, visualizing the slope of the scarf. Tried to get the edges as straight as possible, but when it is gued up all you see is the feather edge. I'd like at least one straight feather edge for the inside hull, in case I change my mind and finish the interior bright vs paint.

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Clamping first garboard plank on the Penobscot 14, I'll get a few screws in then do some rough trimming with a jigsaw.

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Half of first plank clamped. Marked the scarf edge so I can align it when it is ready for final installation. Plank is dry fit first, screwed down, then removed, trimmed and reinstalled with a bead of thickened epoxy along the stringer and keel. The keel screws are countersunk and will stay as part of the boat. The stringer screws will be removed after epoxy sets for a day and next plank overlaps.

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Using this folding ruler to transfer marks for the stringer edge onto the outer hull. Then I can see where to put screws into stringer. Black marks will be used to realign planks during final installation.

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These marks show edge of stringer underneath.

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Adjusting the countersink/pilot bit for a layer of 6mm plywood with 3/4 inch stringer underneath.

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Started rough trimming the stringer edge of the garboard plank and keel wit a jigsaw. Cleaned the plank edge on the keel up to the aft bulkhead with a hand plane then a chisel.

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18 Nov 2014: Fitting forward garboard plank on port side. Plank shifted a little, now I have a pilot hole to fill and new alignment marks to draw. Lesson Learned: Don't mark alignment of plank to stringer until after plank is screwed down.

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Plank clamped in place until I can get a few screws in. This is a 3 handed job.

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I trimmed the keel edge of the plank with a reciprocating saw, then used a jack plane to get the correct angles. It is flush at the stem, then angled further back so the opposite side garboard will overlap it. Most of those plank angles further back will be planed to a one inch flat that the deadwood will attach to.

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Keel edge roughed out, the opposite side garboard will overlap it starting just aft of where the stem ends and keel starts.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

This looking at the fist plank from inside the boat. Keel is at the top, first stringer at the bottom. I used a pencil to trace the outside edge of the stringer onto the plank. Now we'll remove the plank and rough trim it to size. Then reinstall with glues and screws and trim it flush along the stringer with a compact router.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

First scarf in progress. The ragged edge at the bottom is from where I dropped it But luckily most of that edge will be trimmed off and then lapped by 3/4 inch by the next plank. Those lower screws will be used to hold the plank in place for about 24 hours while the thickend epoxy dries, then removed before the next plank is laid.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

19 Nov 2014: Picked up more 6mm okume from Ozark Hardwoods. First plywood run for the Odyssey, it was a tight fit.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

05 Dec 2014: Pensacola Boat Store has great tech advice, low prices and they ship! Just ordered some Cetol from them for the Sorg.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

26 Dec 2014: Port garboard plank trimmed to keel and stringer. I used a trim router to trim the edge along the stringer. Rough trimmed the keel edge with a reciprocating saw then used power planer and jack plane to finish the keel edge of the plank. I'll use it to mark a rough pattern for starboard side then glue and screw it.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

Used the port garboard as a pattern for the starboard side.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

Epoxy was thickened with bridging filler to mayonnaise consistency.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

When the plywood is screwed to the stringer, we want to see a thin bead of the thickened epoxy squeeze out. Wipe the excess off and clean residue with acetone.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

Port garboard epoxied and screwed, Scarf clamped. Stringer screws will be removed in 12-24 hours.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

Scarf lightly clamped with homemade clamps. Blocks are wrapped in saran wrap.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

29 Dec 15: Transferring upper edge of stringer to outside of plank using carpenter's rule.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

Rough trimmed the edge with a jigsaw then used a trim router with a flush bit to clean up the edge.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

Trimming keel edge of starboard hardboard with reciprocating saw.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

07 Jan 2015: Happy New Year! Starboard garboard glued, screwed and clamped. Scarf clamps added.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

Next up for Penobscot 14 "St Jacques" we glue and screw the starboard garboard and then plane a 1 inch wide flat down the keel. Or the keel can wait til more planks are attached. We'll make sure the jig is level before we do that.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

This clamp will be used to hold planks while we fair them. A plank will be rough fit, marked and then taken off for fairing at the bench. Picked up the clamp at Live Oak Traders in Gulf Breeze.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

07 Apr 2015: Rounded up oars and anchors.

From SBR 4: Jun 2014 -

Took some time off to enjoy Summer boating!

10 Nov 15:

Added strips to fill the reverse bevel on the garboard, just follow Arch's instructions. Fastened them with thickened epoxy.

19 Nov 15:

Took the big chunks off the garboard bevel strip with a power planer, then belt sander, finished with a rebate plane. The strip makes a landing for the next lap and gradually disappears to nothing forward of the aft bulkhead.

22 Nov 15:

Used 18 inch craft paper to make a rough pattern for port plank #2

I creased the paper along the edge of the stringer then trimmed it a little fat, didn't want to end up short in one spot.

I creased the paper along the lower stringer by running my finger along the stringer. Then I used this 3/4 inch block to draw the lap. Next I'll cut the paper and leave some room for error.

I'm using 8 foot plywood so there has to be a scarf joint. I marked the pattern where the scarf joint would be, and now I'll cut each fore and aft section of plank 1 1/2 inches past that line, that will give us the 3 inch overlap for scarfing the 1/4 inch plywood (12 to 1). That pattern is for the aft section of plank on the second row. Also keep in mind that the scarfs on each row of planking will be off set so they don't all lay on top of each other.

Roughed out the scarf with a power planer, smoothed them with a belt sander.

The plywood has to be screwed to the stringer so we can mark it for trimming. So how do we know where the stringer is? This fancy tool will be used to reach under the plank and hook onto the stringer. Then I can use the shorter leg to mark where to drill pilot holes for the screws.

We marked stringer lines onto planks. We have to mark the inboard edge of the lower stringer and the outboard edge of the upper stringer. Once the plank is removed we flip it over and add the 3/4 inch lap for the lower stringer.

Trimmed as close as I dared to the stringer lines. Final trimming will be done on the boat with a plane for the lower stringer and flush bit router for the upper stringer.

Trimmed the upper stringer with a compact router flush bit.

Used a small handsaw then belt sander to finish the bow. Next we'll take the plank off and use it as a rough pattern for the starboard side, then epoxy and screw it for good.

23 Nov 15:

Made some more clamps so I can work 2 scarfs at a time. Cut them from a 2x6 and picked up the bolts/washers/wing nuts at Ace hardware.

24 Nov 15:

Beveled the ports side plank. Took off big chunks with a belt sander then finished it with a hand plane.

Started tracing pattern for plank 3.

01 Dec 15:

The scarfs on the planks are alternated every other plank so they don't all fall together. And with a 14 foot boat and two sheets of 8 foot plywood overlapped by three inches, there is not a lot of wiggle room when laying out the planks. This top scarf is backwards, the bow of the boat is to the left, so I should have overlapped the forward plank over the aft plank. Not a big deal, but that is the convention. Then what happened was I forgot that I did that incorrectly and laid out plank number 3 using that scarf line to judge a center for the next scarf location. That moved the 3rd plank even further forward and the aft plank ended up being too short by about an inch. After studying the issue in the moaning chair for a while I determined that I could re-cut a longer forward plank and shift everything aft.

For a 12:1 scarf, a 1/4 inch piece of plywood will overlap 3 inches.

Marking the stringer location onto the plank from inside. We'll take it off, add 3/4 inch for the lap and trim it close with a jigsaw. The plank on the stringer closest to the sheer is trimmed with a router flush bit.

3rd port plank rough fit. I marked the location of the stringers from inside the boat, next I'll remove the plank, flip it over and add 3/4 inch to the lower edge of the plank IOT account for the lap. That new line will be the trim line to follow with a jigsaw. After it gets trimmed I'll plane and sand the lower edge as fair as possible, because once it goes back on the boat I don't want to do a lot of sanding or planing, as that could remove the edge of the plank or damage the plank that it laps over.

05 Dec 15:

Sunset at the casa.

Trimmed port plank 3 and sanded it fair.

Grabbed some one inch screws from Jamestown Distributors, I 'll use them to screw down the lower lap of each plank.

A shipwright suggested I scuff up the head of each screw so it will hold fairing compound better. The screw on the left was scuffed up with the belt sander. I also washed the screws in acetone to remove the coating that keeps them shiny during shipping.

Tracing starboard plank number 3. The usual crowd is supervising.

Warm enough to epoxy, I'll use the Fast Hardener to help the epoxy set up faster.

Epoxy resin and hardener before mixing.

Epoxy thickened with filler, somewhere between mayonnaise and peanut butter consistency.

Scarf buttered up and stringers ready for the forward section of port plank 3.

Trimming the plank close to the transom, final fit will be done with a plane iron.

Light clamping on the upper stringer, so all the epoxy doesn't squeeze out. Lower stringer is fastened with screws.

Starting to look boatish.

I bought clamps for the family and initialed them so they'd know who was holding what....sure was nice of everyone to let me "borrow" them

Put a coat of WEST SYSTEM Epoxy 105 with 207 Special Clear hardener on the transom, that will help keep gunk from staining it.

06 Dec 15:

The Penobscot 14 is being planked with 6mm (1/4 inch) marine grade okume plywood. Marine grade means there are no voids and waterproof glue, per British Standard (BS) 1088.

Fitting and trimming starboard plank 3.

Made the pattern for port plank 3, remembered to add 3/4 inch to the keel edge for the lap.

Port plank 4 pattern, I think I'll cut it like that

The tool trolley has been working out great.

Willow keeping an eye on St Jacques. Starboard plank 3 attached with thickened epoxy and lap also has stainless steel screws. Sheer edge clamped until it dries.

12 Dec 15:

These stringers required a significant bevel IOT allow the plank 5 lap to lay flush with plank 4.

Starboard plank 5 epoxied and screwed. Skipper supervised and helped.

Starboard plank 5 epoxied and screwed!

13 Dec 15:

Trimmed, epoxied and screwed port plank 5.

Ducked under the boat and took a picture of the bilge, looking towards the bow.

Keel slot for the centerboard, I drilled small holes along the inner edge and will use them to draw a cut line on the bottom.

Drilled holes along the inner edge of the centerboard slot, then connected the dots. That line was my cut guide, I used a jigsaw and left it a little proud.

Started the cutout for the centerboard with a jigsaw then finished it with the router. You can see how the centerboard will be offset to port of the one inch deadwood (keel).

One of the next steps is to plane a one inch flat along the keel, that is where the deadwood will attach. The level is marked for one inch. Before I proceed further I'll level the jig.

15 Dec 15:

Attached the whiskey plank today, time to celebrate.

14 Jan 16:

Stem and deadwood epoxied and screwed.

Skipper wandered by to see what was fascinating me today....

Fair. Sand. 1 coat of epoxy. Sand. Another coat of epoxy. Sand. Prime with tinted primer. Sand. Paint another coat. Sand. Final coat.

20 Jan 16:

Made some railways to roll boats out for sanding, got tired of dragging the jig through the dirt. They'll stow under the carriage house when not in use.

01 Feb 16:

Sanded the second round of fairing compound, vacuumed the hull and wiped it down with acetone. We are ready for the first coat of epoxy. St. Jacques chatting it up with Barbashelas floorboards.

04 Feb 16:

WEST SYSTEM Epoxy 105 resin with 205 Fast Hardener first coat. Used the foam roller

WEST SYSTEM Epoxy 105 resin with 205 Fast Hardener first coat. Brushed the seams then made sure I goot a good thin coat.

Trying to organize my tools, they are kind of mobile so I can move the saws around to where the job is. The tool trolley has been a great success, it follows me around alot. And the wagon has been chugging along for about 20 years.

05 Feb 16:

Rinsed off the blush from epoxy coat 2, light scrub with scotchbrite.

2nd coat of West System on the Penobscot 14 St Jacques.

Epoxy coat number 2 drying.

06 Feb 16:

First coat of 50/50 primer and Rustoleum Topside Oyster White (oil based).

08 Feb 16:

Rolled and tipped first coat of Rustoleum Marine Topside Oyster White. That is the same color that is on our 1959 Sorg Runabout Willow and we liked the color. The Rustoleum is also oil based and we wanted to experiment with that a bit on wood boats.

Roll and Tip Tips:

1. We have used Interlux Brightside, Pettit EZpoxy and Rustoleum Topside with great success. We pick based on what color we need and sometimes what is locally available. The tip here is to pick a brand and use their thinner (if needed). Read the direction, don't thin at all or thin 5-10% if it is going to be 80+ degrees while you are painting or if your paint is not flowing well.

2. The first area you do can be splotchy until the roller gets fully wet out, not dripping paint everywhere but just fully wet. So get a piece of 2x2 scrap and roll that first to get your roller and brush wetted and get a feel for how your chosen paint and roller combo will flow.

3. Make sure you buy a roller meant for the type of paint that you are using, some paints can eat the foam. On the last project I cut a West system 7 inch roller in half and slid that onto one of those small roller frames, it worked great on the planks. Don't use a basic roller from the hardware store.

4. I use a china bristle paint brush to tip the paint, but if you use a foam brush, buy a good one, not the cheapo pack.

5. For the lapstrake, I worked up and down, plank by plank about 18 inches at a time. I was concerned that if I went all the way down one strake I'd come back and have to deal with tacky paint along the lap. Start with about a one foot section until you get the hang of it. I brushed the lap seam first, then rolled a section of the plank and tipped it. Brush the next seam down, roll and tip. Repeat til you're done. For a flat hull many people recommend rolling vertically then brush it out horizontal for best coverage.

5. Keep the brush wet so it doesn't drag and use very light passes.

6. If an edge gets dry/tacky, work a little fresh paint into it to wet it out again. Do smaller section or add a little thinner.

25 May 16:

Turnover cradle. Got the boat off the jig and onto the cradle while the crew was in town.

04 Dec 16:

Used painter paper to make a pattern for Penobscot 14 "St. Jacques" centerboard. Dimensions came from the plans.

Used painter paper to make a pattern for Penobscot 14 "St. Jacques" rudder and rudder head. Dimensions came from the plans.

Used the dimensions from Arch's plans to make a pattern for Penobscot 14 "St. Jacques" rudder and rudder head.

05 Dec 16:

Did a little sanding with the random orbital sander and some 60 grit pads to remove wayward epoxy. Ran down most of the port side and the keel. It evened out the wood color a bit and now we may try some sealer and varnish in the bulkhead area to see if we like how the bright finish looks over okume and cypress. If we don't like it, then the finish will be paint. We tried some Cetol but the look didn't float my boat.

Also found a nice piece of cypress for the rudder blade.

06 Dec 16:

Decided to go with the Rustoleum series of Marine Coatings for the planking and stringers. We first wanted to see if the planks would take sealer/varnish evenly and there was a slim chance to leave the inside finished bright. Lots of challenges there, with scarf joints and some blobs of excess epoxy in a few places. We also have a fallback plan to paint with some nice colors if the planks didn't darken evenly. Sealing the wood with a varnish was the first step either way.

So per Rustoleum's instructions we applied the varnish, thinned 10% with mineral spirits. And here are the results. As I thought, there are some big variations in the plank colors, as we drew from 3 batches of plywood. The scarf joints didn't bother me, but the eyes stops on too many of those plank transitions. Also the epoxy shows up an opaque amber in a few too many spots.

So we will paint. Rustoleum Marine Coatings Wood and Fiberglass Primer next, then we will use Rustoleum Topside Oyster White, which is actually what is on the outer hull. We are excited about this as well, thanks to the designer Arch Davis, who sent us a nice photo of one of his favorite completed boats, built by Mr Ahlberg. We like the paint and stain combo, but we will have to figure out something different for our inner transom, it might get painted as well due to color variations on the frame and plywood face.

(image credit: Ahlberg).

12 Dec 16:

Cut out the centerboard, rudder and rudder head today for our Penobscot 14 "St. Jacques." Picked up some more cypress from the mill for the rudder head, seats and centerboard case. Laminated the rudder head okume panels.

Rudder plans, used them to get the radius of the rudder edge and rudder head centerpiece.

Top of the rudder, it is curved so that it can be rotated up in shallow water.

Cut out the rudder with a DEWALT jigsaw.

Our handmade daggerboard volunteered a strip of mahogany to be used along the leading edge of the rudder. I had messed up the edge of the daggerboard when I made it so I am glad we can use it for a few pieces.

The centerboard and rudder will be 3/4 inches thick, similar to our Sunfish rudders and daggerboards. We may copy the edge profiles that the Sunfish blades use, as it works great for them.

Used TotalBoat THIXO from Jamestown Distributors to attach the mahogany rub string to the leading edge of the rudder. Also used silicone bronze screws but those might come back out depending on which profile we put on the leading edge.

Mahogany rub strip for the leading edge of the cypress centerboard, secured with TotalBoat THIXO from Jamestown Distributors.

Skipper supervised transfer of centerboard pattern lines to the cypress board. 74 degrees F here in FLorida today, hope y'all are enjoying the snow up North as well.

Ready to cut the centerboard. Sailfish Winnie is watching.

Cut out the centerboard with a DEWALT jigsaw. This board is an inch thick, left over from the Barbashela rebuild, so we will plane it down to 3/4 inches and then profile the edges.

One of the crew at the sawmill pulling some 12 inch wide S4S 4/4 boards (Surface 4 Sides, 1 inch) for the seats, centerboard case frame and rudder parts.

Made a wood pattern from the paper pattern to trace out the rudder head panels. The top part of the rudder is a sandwich of 2 quarter inch plywood panels, then a 1 inch center board that the rudder nestles against, then 2 more quarter inch panels. I definitely will epoxy the plywood panels together, and might screw them vs epoxy to the center piece so I can pull apart as needed for maintenance. The rudder pivot bolt goes through the bottom part of the plywood panels and top of the rudder blade.

Rudder head panels epoxied together. Rudder blade and rudder head center piece cut out. Centerboard cut out, still needs to be planed to 3/4 inch. Temporary middle seat resting in place.

13 Dec 16:

Continued work on the rudder and centerboard trunk. Left enough space between the rudder blade and rudder cheeks to put in bushings to help the rudder pivot smoothly. We will use stainless or nylon.

Planed the centerboard to 3/4 inch thickness.

Made a pattern for the centerboard case. It also serves as a seat support.

Had to find station 7 so I knew where to place the centerboard trunk. I was able to find it by looking at the screw holes in the stringers from the Station 7 mold.

Fit the centerboard to the trunk, checked clearance.

Rustoleum Spar varnish, thinned with mineral spirits to seal the rudder and centerboard parts.

2 coats of Rust-Oleum sealer varnish on the rudder and centerboard because I had some left over. The blade edges still need to be profiled, we will copy the edges that the Sunfish rudder and daggerboard have.

14 Dec 16:

Worked on the rudder and centerboard.

Profiled the edge of the centerboard. Still have shaping to do on the rudder but we got the top edge trimmed so that it will swivel in the cheek.

The Penobscot has a reverse transom so the rudder has to swing quite a ways to be level with the keel. We will need to add a retract and extend line so we don't have to dive over the stern to move it up and down.

Where the madness happened for the centerboard.

Right now the plan is to paint the planks, stringers, bulkheads and centerboard case Oyster White. Varnish for the seats, seat supports, centerboard cap, inner transom panel, top stringer, breasthook, knees and rail cap.

The flood coat of paint gets a lot of paint onto the new wood, helps seal the wood, fill the grain and gives us an idea of what hills, valleys and voids we want to sand or fair. Then we apply the show coat and the finish coat. We are going to leave the okume inner panel varnished for now, and see how that looks with the varnished seats and gunwale. If the eye jumps around too much from cypress to okume to Oyster White, then we paint the inner panel as well.

23 Dec 16:

Cut the centerboard case logs, top support and bolt mounts. Trimmed to fit case sides. I screwed them in place then trimmed with a jigsaw using the edge of the plywood as a guide. Now would have been a good time to predrill holes for the keel screws, oops.

Skipper worked on a moaning chair, which I would need soon.

I cut a top support but placed it wrong. It is supposed to be 3/4" tall x 1 1/2". So I trimmed the next one the correct way, cut a new one and tossed one in the trash.

Skipper photobombing with her grog.

Put everything together with thickened epoxy and silicone bronze screws. Used half of a paint stick to clean excess epoxy out of the inside seams of the case.

Dry fit the case and middle seat. Right about then is when I remembered that I intended to predill the holes on the keel log for the keel screws. I can still do it, but will have to go at a slight angle.

24 Dec 16:

Gathered bolts and bushings for the centerboard and rudder. I decided to use the same size for both pieces. Got a 5/16th inch bolt and what I thought was a copper pipe with 3/8 inch inner diameter to use as a bushing. I drilled the hole for the bushing then discovered that I bought the wrong size and now the hole was too big. So back to Ace Hardware and they hooked me up with 2 different size bronze bushings that they pressed together. So now I had a good bushing to fill the oversize holes and the correct inner diameter. Trimmed to fit with a reciprocating saw and bedded with Jamestown Distributors TotalBoat THIXO thickened epoxy. Got the fast cure because I expected temps to be in the 60s. We really like the THIXO because it mixes up great and is the right consistency every time for these applications. I don't have to guess if I added the right amount of filler while watching the clock for a cure time. It also dries to a nice color, sands well, holds fasteners and takes paint with no problem. Plus we have the added protection of the epoxy coat.

Measured the centerboard case and rudder head to determine required bolt length.

Checked the fit.

26 Dec 16:

Cut out the middle seat and attached the centerboard case. Sealed, primed and varnished some pieces.

Primed the port planks and stringers with Rust_Oleum Marine Coating wood and fiberglass primer.

Checking the plans to see where the seat sits on top of the centerboard case.

Pulled seat length and thickness off of this plan.

Picked the bevel off of the stringers and set the circular saw.

Scribed the curve.

Picked the bevel off of the stringers and set the circular saw. I cut the top board first hoping it would be long enough. It wasn't but the curve was right, so I used the first board to mark a longer boar. Cut the bevel and the curve with one pass. I'll use the first board for other seat parts.

Dry fit the centerboard case and middle seat. Drilled holes for the case log (bottom) screws and seat screws.

Sealed the bottom of the seat with Jamestown Distributors TotalBoat Wood Sealer and prepped for Gleam satin varnish. This is the first time we used the wood sealer, we got a free sample from JD and I bought the varnish to go with it. We also bought the varnish kit which came with paint pots, 10" stir sticks, paint straining filters, and 2" foam brushes. I really liked how it flowed on, nice and smooth with minimal brushing and it did a good job of sealing the wood for the varnish. The foam brushes knocked the top ridges down nicely and kept us from having drips down the side. It was nice to know that we had the right amount of sealer vs guessing on a thinned varnish approach. And we also try to stick to the same system of epoxy, paint or varnish once we get started on a project. I have to say I was impressed by the JD video and the results that Louis Sauzedde got with their varnish system. And I can't speak highly enough of how the JD technical and sales staff have supported us through a variety of phases in several projects, by phone, email and even their forum. Free shipping for VIP membership has come in handy, we just got some more silicone bronze screws with the varnish and THIXO on our last order. THIXO is ready to seal up the centerboard case.

Attached the centerboard case with Jamestown Distributors THIXO Fast Cure thickened epoxy and 6 silicone bronze screws. The screws are basically used to hold the case while the THIXO cures. I taped up the centerboard and kept it in the case during install to make sure I had the right clearance. Taped the area first to minimize epoxy spread. Peel the tape asap before epoxy cures. Don't drive to the airport and come back later expecting to peel it then....okay I did that...if that happens, get and exacto knife and cut through the epoxy along the tape edge, then peel the tape up.

Once the board was screwed in, I removed the centerboard and put in a few spacer sticks. I wrapped a few spacer sticks in plastic and dropped those through the top. Then crawled underneath to wipe out excess epoxy.

Port side primed for Oyster White. Starboard side sealed. First coat of varnish on the seat. Note the alignment sticks in the centerboard slot, I put plastic on the bottom of those so they don't get glued permanent. And yes, the centerboard case is offset to port because there is a small continuous keel under the boat. Where's Waldo?

27 Dec 16:

Cut the handle for the centerboard from a broom handle. Drilled the 7/8 inch hole halfway through one side then finished it from the other side to prevent tearout.

Worked on the fit for the middle seat, adjusted bevels per the Skipper's direction.

Exciting times, it goes up and it goes down! Except for the dolly underneath....

28 Dec 16:

Cut support cleats for the middle seat.

Middle seat installed, silicone bronze screws through the hull to the cleat and seat, then screws inside through the seat to the cleat. JD Wood Sealer for the case cap.

Marked and cut the slats for the side seat. We wanted slats and a curved front edge, vs the solid seat in the plans. Lots of small cuts to get a decent fit along the sweeping hull with changing bevel.

Slats are 2 1 /2 inches wide and flow over the aft compartment bulkhead. We are not going to seal the stern or bow compartments, but instead add XPS foam and/or fenders for extra floatation.

Primed the starboard side with Rust-Oleum Marine Wood and Fiberglass Primer.

29 Dec 16:

Tuned the edges of the 2 1/2 inch side seat slats. I had some peaks and troughs, but knew I had a little excess to work with because I wanted a pencil size gap between the slats. So I got the outer edge of the first plank faired with a Black and Decker belt sander and 40 grit, then used a Stanley combination square to scribe a line 2 1/4 inches onto the inside curve. Belt sanded that line to fair curve. By fair curve I mean that when you look down the edge it has a constant, smooth radius vs bumps and dips. If it looks right then it is right, we don't want the eye to catch on a chowdered up area.

Nestled the next slat next the first slat and used a divider compass to find the biggest gap between the two, then scribed the inner slat fair curve to the face of the next slats outer curve. Sanded to fair. Repeat. Scribe. Sand. Scribe. Sand. Scribe. Sand. Scribe. Sand. Then I routed the edges of all the slats with a 1/2 inch roundover bit on a Dewalt compact trim router. Don't round over the aft beveled edge, that takes all of the bevel off! Ask me how I know...

Next I cut a 3/4 inch riser from a nice piece of 1 1/2 thick cypress for support under inboard slat, it curves from under the middle seat back to the bulkhead. Used our Dewalt jigsaw for the cut. Attached riser with silicone bronze screws.

We really like how the TotalBoat Wood Sealer and Gleam varnish are turning out. It is exactly the satin sheen and hue we hoped for on the cypress seats and centerboard case cap. We will build up a few more coats for protection but the coverage, flow and leveling have been outstanding so far.

Fit a cleat under the middle seat, attached with screws. Made coffee. Drank coffee. The wind blew 40 mph and cool today and it was nice to have the shop to work in, before we would have had to suspend sawing and sanding til it let up. Painted the starboard side with Rust-Oleum Marine Topside Oyster White.

10 Jan 17:

Worked on cleats for the port side seat and then used the port side seats as patterns for the side seat on the starboard side.

11 Jan 17:

Worked on the starboard side seat for St. Jacques. Used port side as pattern for the outer slat to cut the clearance notch for the plank stringer. Used a Black and decker belt sander with 40 grit to give the planks a fair curve. Faired the outer edge first, then used a combination square to mark the inner line at approximately 2 1/8 inches. Faired the inner edge then put the next plank up next to previous plank to match the outer curve as well as possible. Repeated until all slats were faired. Then routed the edges with a Dewalt compact router with a 1/8 inch roundover bit.

Cut cleats for the seats and installed them. Well if you have side seats then you should check them out. Lots of room for lounging and rowing.

Put on a coat of Jamestown Distributors TotalBoat Wood Sealer Varnish Primer. It flowed well and covered great. We love the curved seats, a little different than the plans called for.

We want a vintage look for the lines on this boat, so R&W Rope sent us some samples to look through. From L-R they are Posh dark, New England Rope Sta-Set Vintage, Hempex, New England Rope Vintage, and Posh II. We are leaning towards the New England Rope Sta-Set Vintage, it is pretty flexible and feels good in our hand.

13 Jan 17:

Nice morning on the dock.

Cut a few more cleat to hold up the aft seat center section.

Used some meranti ply to make a pattern. Laid out a curve with Barbashela's breasthook template.

Cut the curve with a jigsaw and cit the gentle outer curve with a circular saw.

Put the pattern centerline along the straight edge of a piece of cypress.

Scribed the line from half of the pattern.

Cut half of the seat then flipped it to cut the mirror half.

Trimmed the half seat to fit the curve of the side seat, then used that half to mark and sand the other half to match.

Scribed the 2 1/4(-) inch line on the seat.

Cut and fit each slat.

Slats are precisely spaced one Lego Number 2 pencil apart.

Aft seat trimmed, routed, sanded and screwed down to 3 cleats. It will be removable with some type of toggle to keep it from flipping forward and keep it in the boat in the event of capsize.

Side trip to check out a 1989 Supercharged Toyota MR2. Test drove great, but the price was a bit high.

Brushed on Jamestown Distributors TotalBoat Wood Sealer Varnish Primer. Painted the inner transom to match the rest of the planks and bulkheads, it was too dark for the color scheme we wanted inside the boat. Very happy with how the seat turned out, thanks go to Fred Fisher for the ideas for the curve and the slats!

16 Jan 17:

Set the front edge of the seat approximately 9 inches back from the foot of the stem, then dropped a vertical line down to the risers that will support the the front edge of the seat.

Marked the forward edge of the seat and then another mark 10 1/2 inches back (seat width) so I could get some athwartships measurements for the fore and aft edges of the seat.

Took the seat edge bevel.

Found the seat edge bevel angle.

Set seat edge bevel on the circular saw.

Ripped the seat to 10 1/2 inches on the table saw. Cut the seat edge angle and bevel.

Checked out forward seat rowing position.

First fit.

Used the compass to measure the gap.

Scribed a trim line with the compass.

Trimmed the forward seat. Seat 1.0 that is, then I discovered that I forgot to level the forward seat fore and aft, which also levels it with the middle seat. So when I raised the aft edge of the seat to get the seat level, a big gap opened up on the aft end sides. So seat 2.0 was born, with the correct horizontal orientation and taper.

Sealed wood with Jamestown Distributors TotalBoat Wood Sealer Varnish Primer, then 2 coats of TotalBoat Gleam Satin Varnish. 3 #10 silicone bronze screws per side through hull.

Ruler tick stick for bow seat pattern.

07 Mar 17:

I've been pondering the bow seat for the Penobscot 14 for weeks, finally tackled it. Used the paper pattern to get the first slat roughed in, then measured, cut and screwed the rest of the slats. Rounded the edges with a trim router, applied a coat of Jamestown Distributors TotalBoat Wood Sealer, then the first coat of JD TotalBoat Gleam Varnish Satin. Skipper brought out coffee and Skippervised.

Paper pattern that we made a few weeks back for the bow seat, traced the outer edge and stem notch for the port side seat slat.

Made the rough cut with a 4 1/2 inch circular saw. Then scribed the plank curve onto the bow seat slat. The nice compass was a junk shop find!

Bow seat slat outer edge trimmed and beveled 10 degrees inward to fit close to hull plank.

Marked the inner edge of the 2 1/4 inch seat slat.

Coffee Commander and Skippervisor.

Basic frame for bow seat slats, first 2 slats cut and screwed to battens with silicone bronze Frearson screws from Jamestown Distributors. Be sure to order the Frearson bit and Fuller countersink bits as well, they make installation easy.

Cut and fit more bow seat slats, spaced exactly number 2 pencil width apart. Secured with silicone bronze screws.

Cut a nice edge detail on one side of the seat then copied the profile onto painter's paper for the mirror side.

Made a pattern to transfer the seat edge detail to the flip side. Cut with jigsaw.

Sealed the cypress with Jamestown Distributors TotalBoat Wood Sealer Varnish Primer. They sent me a free sample to try out and I like it. It coats well and doesn't run, it also has a long working time. They also sold me the chip brushes, paint strainers, gloves and Gleam varnish.

First coat of Jamestown Distributors TotalBoat Gleam Satin Spar Varnish over cypress. I like the color and the varnish has a long working time.

Penobscot 14 bow seat, removable for storage and maintenance access. Arch's design calls for this compartment to be sealed, but we wanted access and ventilation instead. We will place a few Extruded Polystyrene (XPS) blocks in there and in the aft compartment as well, possibly spare PFDs and float cushions as well. Primary occupant of this compartment will be the anchor and anchor line.

Here are a few more detail photos.

10 Mar 17:

Worked on the outer gunwales and shaped the bow and keel.

Measured for the outer gunwale.

Cut the outer gunwale to 1 1/4 high by 3/4 inch wide from cypress.

Clamped the gunwale and secured it with silicone bronze screws.

Shaped the stem and keel with a belt sander, handplane and randowm orbital sander.

Measured, cut and scarfed the starboard gunwale.

17 Mar 17:

Silicone bronze screws, TotalBoat sealant, Gleam Satin Varnish and varnish kit arrived from Jamestown Distributors. I was able to call them, talk to a knowledgeable person and order over the phone. Free shipping to CONUS because I bought a VIP membership for $59.99 USD, which paid for itself months ago.

Starboard side outer gunwale scarf fastened with Pettit Marine Paint Flexpoxy. Once it dries we might add a silicone bronze screw as well.

Irwin pilot drill and countersink for a #10 Frearson silicone bronze wood screw. I bought the Irwins at Lowes, Jamestown Distributors sells a full set by Fuller as well.

#10 silicone bronze screw for the outer gunwales. Why silicone bronze? Because we want this to be a 100 year boat vs a 7 year boat. "Traditional boatbuilders love these Silicon Bronze wood screws because they have cut threads and the full-bodied diameter shank. Unlike rolled thread screws with their reduced shank--these screws have a shank diameter that is the same size as the outside of the threads. This completely fills the clearance hole normally drilled for the shank thus creating a waterproof seal" (JD, 2017). Silicone bronze is also one of the most durable materials to use in the marine environment, especially below waterlines. Had I known earlier I would have considered them vs the 316 stainless.

Pulled the angle with a bevel for the thwart knee. Trimmed to fit around risers and duplicated for the other 3 seat knees.

Breasthook blank (triangular bow section). 6/4 S4S or 1 1/2 inch thick cypress, will be shaped down to 1 1/4 inch along the gunwales.

Cut bevel on forward edge of breasthook blank.

Found angle for sides of breasthook. It has to fit down and in, so that angle needs to be moved over. Arch describes how to do it in his book, my method is a little different so use at your own peril.

Found vertical to move breasthook bevel over, it will sit inside the gunwale.

Moved over breasthook bevel.

Marked forward edge of breasthook side profile.

Marked underside of breasthook side profile.

Drew cut lines for breasthook. I suppose you could cut from the top or bottom, depending on your saw. My intent was to cut it a bit wide and finish it to fit with a rasp and plane, stay tuned for breaking news.

I cut the port side line and the fit looked good. I wanted to cut outside the starboard side line to leave it a little proud for fitting the breasthook....well when I spun it around on the cutting table I cut on the wrong side of the line! Moaning chair time. Looks like I need to adjust for the sweep a little as well.

5 minute epoxy in our future?

06 Apr 17:

No 5 minute epoxy, we used THIXO to reattach a chunk. Let it dry for a few days. Recut the breasthook and sanded it to fit. I left it proud so I can give the top some crown. Attached it with a few silicone bronze screws and need to mark a curve along the aft side.

Cut out the thwart knees, they'll need some trimming to fit.

13 Apr 17:

Pulled out the trusty DeWalt jig saw and cut a curve into the breasthook.

Then grabbed the Black and Decker belt sander and shaped a slight crown. Also sanded the tops of the outer gunwale, sheer plank and sheer clamp flush in preparation for the rail cap. Final sanding done with a DeWalt random orbital sander.

27 Apr 17:

Got the beautiful bronze rudder fittings from Port Townsend Foundry today, what a great job they did! Trimmed the rudder head and attached the pintles with #8 silicone bronze screws. Lightly sanded the okume with 120 then applied the second coat of Total Boat Marine Spar Varnish Gleam Satin from Jamestown Distributors.

07 May 17:

Started on the quarter knees, traced the gunwale to transom angle onto a cardboard pattern. Pulled transom and gunwale angles with a bevel.

Drew the basic knee shape from the plans and cut out the pattern.

Cut the transom and gunwale bevels onto a one inch thick blank on the table saw.

The transom has extra material on the top so it can be beveled fore and aft to accept the rail cap. It will lay roughly parallel to the water similar to Fred's beautiful boat Deja Vu Too.

We need to check if that is going to look okay at this thickness or if it needs to be thicker like the sheer clamp (inner gunwale).

08 May 17:

Sanded the top of the transom parallel to the gunwale and gave it a gentle curve up to the sculling notch. Did the port side first and then sanded the starboard side as close as possible by eye.

Then I realized that I could make a pattern to transfer the curve from one side to the next.

Cut out the quarter knees, fastened with silicone bronze screws and sanded fair to the transom.

Cut out pieces to build up an oarlock pad, fastened them with Jamestown Distributors TotalBoat THIXO.

10 May 17:

Worked on the caps today. Creased the pattern paper to capture the breasthook curve for the cap.

Breasthook cap pattern.

Cut out breast hook cap.

Breasthook cap before fitting and planing.

Planed the caps to 5/16 inch. Fit the first breasthook cap to the stem.

Used a rasp to take off a little at a time and fit the breasthook cap to the stem.

Fit the cap.

Used Jamestown Distributors TotalBoat THIXO to fasten the cap. #totalboat

Clamped the cap while the THIXO dries.

Traced forward rail cap profile and cut out with jigsaw.

Cut the forward rail cap in half, so we had one for each side and they could be planed to 5/16 inch thickness.

Made a pattern for a birdsmouth notch just for fun.

Birdsmouth notch.

Fit the rail cap and traced it again for closer trim.

I think every tool was pulled out and most of the clamps.

Everything tucked in for the night. We like having everything on wheels so we can move things around as needed by project.

11 May 17:

Got the mid rail caps cut out and fit. Shaped the oarlock pads. Fit the first oarlock socket. Vacuumed the bilge.

Cut and fit the mid rail caps. Vacuumed the bilge.

Fit the first oarlock socket.

18 May 17:

Cut out the rail cap blanks, planed them to 5/16th inch thickness.

Fastened the rail caps with Jamestown Distributors TotalBoat THIXO.

19 May 17:

Fastened mid rail caps today with TotalBoat THIXO Flex. Shaped the quarter knee caps with 40 grit on belt sander., rasp and 80-120 grit on random orbital sander. Sanded transom with 120 grit. Applied TotalBoat Wood Sealer to transom and quarter knee caps.

20 May 17:

Cut the aft rail caps, planed to 5/16th inch thickness. Trimmed to fit. Fastened with Jamestown Distributors TotalBoat THIXO Flex. Sanded the mid rail caps

21 May 17:

Shaped the stem head. Assembled the rudder for fun, still need to sand profile on the edge.

22 May 17:

Added forward seat cleat. Sanded interior and gunwale. Rust-Oleum Marine Topside Oyster White on the interior. Jamestown Distributors TotalBoat Wood Sealer the Gleam Varnish Satin for rail caps and gunwale. #totalboat

23 May 17:

Cleaned up a set of vintage oars. Varnished seats and applied another coat of paint to the interior.

24 May 17:

Installed the oarlock sockets.

Cut a faux birdmouth.

Bunged gunwale screw holes, sanded and varnished.

26 May 17:

Flipped the boat to work on the hull. Bunged the deadwood and sanded them flush. Faired thwart screw holes and other low spots with Pettit EZFair. Attached the brass half oval solid back strip from Jamestown Distributors and attached it with silicone bronze screws. The rest of the deadwood will get a wooden rub strip.

26 May 17:

Launched St. Jacques for sea trials. Crew of 4. Her paddle and oar systems were checked, as well as trim, weight and balance. She floated on her waterline and moved with ease. Dry bilge. She also fit perfect on the Sunfish Dolly from Dynamic Dollies and Racks.

Now she is back to the boat works for finish coat of paint, rig for sprit sail and final outfitting.

04 Jun 17:

I spent a few days trying to figure out the best way to make a rub rail for the sheer strake, then decided to go up to Lowes and see if they had something fun that was already made. We found a nice piece of low profile pine with a triple bead. Perfect! Brought it back to the Boat Works and sealed it up with Jamestown Distributors Total Boat Wood Sealer. Then we fastened it to the sheer strake with TotalBoat THIXO and had fun clamping it while it dried.

While we were fiddling with the strake we decided to try a stripe of Pettit EZPoxy Sea Foam Green. Thought a pop of color might be nice.

Turns out we liked the pop of color. A lot. My initial vision for the boat was a green hull with tanbark sails, like our Lugger Onkahye. So after a little discussion we decided to paint the entire hull.

06 Jun 17:

Went and picked up some 14 foot spruce 2x4s for the mast and sprit. Cut them down so we had 2 pieces, one set to make a 2 1/2 inch blank for the mast and one set to make a 1 3/4 inch blank for the sprit. The mast is 11' 7" and the sprit will be 12'3".

Left them long so we can pick the best section after they are glued up. Fastened them together with Jamestown Distributors TotalBoat THIXO thickened epoxy.

07 May 17:

We got our tanbark spritsail kit from Sailrite, rolled out the panels, seamed them with double back tape and sewed the panel seam together on the Sailrite Ultrafeed LSZ-1. Made a few adjustments to the machine first, lots of pressure foot tension is required.

Everything came out great, corner and reef point reinforcements next, then grommets.

08 Jun 17:

Sewed on some of the reinforcing patches for the tack, reef tack and peak of the sprit sail. They are 4 layers of different size material, smallest patch goes on first. We taped them all together then placed them on the sail on the marked locations.

Sewing a sial takes a lot of presser foot tension.

Here are the settings we used for stitch width and length.

09 Jun 17:

Took the clamps off the spars. Marked the circumference on the end. Cut 45 degree angles on each edge just outside of the mark with the table saw. Now they are 8 sided.

26 Jun 17:

Built a spar jig so I could turn the mast and shape it with a router. 2x6 box by 20 feet long because we had those boards left over from Barabshela's rescue stretcher. 1x4 cleats on the bottom and ends. Cut the mast profile onto 1x4s and screwed those to the inside of the box. Built a sled for the router. Pinned the mast into the jig with 7/16th inch dowels. Set the 3/8 inch flush bit to the desired depth to get the diameter. Rotated the mast by hand to trim excess wood. Belt sanded with 60 grit, then had sanded with 120 grit.

Applied Jamestown Distributors TotalBoat Wood Sealer and 3 coats of Gleam Marine Spar Varnish Satin.

27 Jun 17:

Drilled the mortise for the mast step. It was measured back from Station 2-4-0 per plans for a sprit rig. We went with a round step so that the mast can rotate.

28 Jun 17:

Wow, as great as the mast turned out, the sprit has been a pain. While the mast was 2 1/2 inches, the sprit will only be 1 1/2. Turns out that extra inch in diameter makes a big difference in how flexible the sprit is on the spar jig. We went through not one, not two, not three blanks before we abandoned the router sled method. The first couple I thought were cut too close to diameter and there was no room for error. Those got tossed into the boat hook handle pile. For the third attempt I cut the blank to 2 1/4 inches, but it was still too bendy, plus we got some green lumber that wanted to crawl all over the place. It developed a nasty kink about 1/3 from one end. More boat hook handles I guess!

29 Jun 17:

Finally got a sprit shaped. We took a 1 1/2 inch blank and eight sided it on the table saw. Flipped the spar jig and turned it into a spar bench. Used our new Stanley Number 52 spokeshave to take the edges down to round.

Cut a line for a shoulder with a dovetail saw. Roughed out the inner edge of the shoulder with a quarter round file. Cut a 1/4 inch taper about 2 feet back.

4 sided taper for the pins on ends, rasped off the excess to a rough round shape

Sanded 120 grit with the random orbital sander then hand sanded.

TotalBoat Wood Sealer then Gleam Marine Spar Varnish.

30 Jun 17:

Port Townsend Foundry made us some beautiful belaying pins. They be used for the downhaul, snotter and sheet.

09 Jul 17:

Cut out a mast collar for the thwart, trimmed thwart to fit inside gunwale. Cut out thwart ledgers.

11 Jul 17:

Fastened the mast thwart ledgers with #10 silicone bronze screws from below, into gunwale.

Centered up the hole in the last thwart 1 1/2 inches aft of the hole in the stem mortise, per sprit rig specifications. Then made sure the mast was plumb to port and starboard. Marked position of thwart and mast collar with pencil, taped the collar into place. Clamped the thwart and drilled holes for 1/4 inch bronze carriage bolts. Took off the thwart and attached the collar with #10 silicone bronze screws fastened from below.

Needed to trim the carriage bolts, here is our bolt trimming jig. Cut off the bolt with a metal blade in a reciprocating saw. The tip here is to put the wing nut on first, then cut the bolt. That way when we unscrew the nut it recuts the bolt thread. The other tip is to be very careful of any sharp slivers or burrs left over after cutting, we sand those down after finding bandaids.

Drilled a pilot hole close to the top of the mast for a beehole, left room for an eyestrap for pennants and the like. Then drilled a 3/8 inch hole for the 1/4 inch sail lacing line.

Stop knot for the sail lacing and 3/8 inch holes for the belaying pins. One for adjustable snotter line and the other for downhaul. One or the other will be used to keep mast snug in the step.

Rigging for sail:

The sail was laced on using a marlin hitch that ended on a Sunfish eyestrap just below the tack.

Took the edge profile off of a Sunfish rudder. Shaped the edge with a Stanley #52 spokeshave followed by 120 grit on a random orbital sander. Sealed with TotalBoat Wood Sealer then Gleam Marine Spar Varnish Satin

Cut the tiller from solid cypress. Shaped with spokeshave and random orbital sander.

Rigged the brailing line and becket for the sprit. Used vintage Alcort bronze hardware from Wilcox and Crittenden. The grommet for the brail line is about 1/3 of the way down the leech, just below a line drawn perpindicular from where the throat grommet is tied to the mast. Skipper sewed 2 inch square reinforcing patches onto the sail similar to the reef points.

Drilled holes for the bow line, dory style that we spotted in Pete Culler's fitting out tips.

Hung rudder with pintle and gudgeon from Port Townsend Foundry. Added uphaul line to rudder with jam cleat on tiller.

Tested out the brail line and the sprit snotter.

Ready for sea trials!

17 Jul 17:

Took St. Jacques out for sea trials on a beautiful day. The rig was easy to step with one mast and one sprit, the brailing line worked great to keep the sail doused while we bent on the mainsheet to the clew. We ran her down into the water, climbed aboard, popped the brail line loose and left the shore on a run. I pushed the centerboard down to find that it popped right back up. Used a piece of line to tie the handle aft and keep the board down. We had a similar experience with the rudder, but there was enough of it down to sail in the light winds. Skipper took the boat through all points of sail and experimented with sheeting angles for the spritsail, found that a block running on a line traveler aft would work. Stability and trim were excellent. We rowed a bit as well, she moves easily under oar and her bow kissed the beach after a successful sail.

The brail worked great back at the beach, we unstepped the rig and rolled her back to the boatworks for upgrades. She's a sailboat now!

Rowed .5 miles/Total .5 miles

18 Jul 17:

After the trials yesterday we added a rudder downhaul with jam cleat on the inner transom. Tested it out and found that the braided line didn't run free so we added shackles at the eyestraps, moved the lower eyestrap to the corner of the rudder, switched to smaller 1/8 inch nylon line and smaller jam cleat. (updated picture pending). Also the Skipper suggested that we modify the tiller so it could raise up, like the Sunfish tiller does, which would make it easier to maneuver around. We did that by cutting rounding the aft end of the tiller so it could pivot on a 1/4 inch bronze pin that came from a Sunfish rudder assembly. We also had to notch the tiller and upper part of the rudder yoke so the tiller could raise about 18 inches. Next we added a line traveler to the quarter knees with a small Sunfish block, so the sheet would run from the clew, back to the block then forward in close alignment with the tiller. Last orders of business were to change the brail line to a thinner line and rig a pennant for the jolly roger.

Rowed .5 miles/Total 1 mile

Rigged a centerboard downhaul with bronze Wilcox and Crittenden Sunfish hardware.

Took St. Jacques out for another round of sea trials. She sailed and rowed great! The rudder and centerboard downhauls worked well and the tilt tiller was awesome.

Turned on a dime. Gave back change.

After the sea trials we cleaned up a little coffee spill and water that we tracked into the boat. Wiped up easily with a towel and sponge. I am glad that I didn't drill limber holes for the fore and aft compartments, they'll stay pretty dry, especially if we don't drain water and coffee INTO them.

Made a pattern for a boat cover.

Wrapping up the build, kind of a proud and strange moment.

20 Jul 17:

Name badges for St. Jacques.

21 Aug 17:

Took St. Jacques out for a short sail in light winds, worked on the transition from shore to sea. Sail was ready but First Mate forgot to drop the centerboard about halfway, so we went a bit sideways in the light breeze until the dock helped him gain his bearings. Once untangled from the bow line and mainsheet, we poled and paddled a few feet to gain sea room then crawled off the beach under sail. Worked our way up towards the river looking for dolphin, ended up ghosting a bit and rowed for a while. 7 1/2 foot oars for the forward station may be a few inches too long, but it is too early to tell with the limited rowing experience of the crew. St. Jacques was very easy to handle and likes to sail just above a beam reach. Wind died again and temp index started creeping towards 100F, so the oars brought us home. Just prior to the shore, the tiller snapped at the foot and the sail got brailed for the last few feet. Time to watch the eclipse now.

The tiller snapped where I had cut the shoulder too deep, which created a weak point. Kind of like notching a tree to fell it.

Repaired the broken tiller with Jamestown Distributors TotalBoat THIXO (thickened epoxy) and a wrap of 4 oz fiberglass cloth.

Wrapped the fiberglass and epoxy with saran wrap to help smooth the surface and hold the pieces together.

St. Jacques waiting for the next adventure.

Rowed 1 mile/Total 2 miles

22 Aug 17:

While the tiller repair was drying we decided to get in some rowing miles. We wanted to try the 8 foot oars to see if we liked those better than the 7 1/2 foot set, starting with the forward station. Went about 20 feet and said "Nope." The longer length required me to dip the grips deeper, and that required changing my knee and leg position around. It wouldn't be any better at the mid station as it sits a bit lower to the water and oar tips would have to be raised even more. Plus the longer oars were heavier, with most of that weight being outboard of the oarlock, which required more effort to balance. So back to the beach to swap out the oars. We also brought an extra paddle, Skipper and I paddled clear of the shore and seawall, then rowed for a mile and a half out to the bayou and back. The boat carries well, not quite as well as Barbashela though. We also practiced boarding with the stern to shore, then pushed off with the paddles, that worked well.

Skipper with her paddle. We are still impressed with the amount of space in a 14 foot boat.

Here's a few shots from the clean up. The boat is easy to rinse off and sponge out. Today we used a wetvac to remove some bilge water and sand, brought in during boarding. The boat is easy to clean out and air dry with the removable bow, side and aft seats.

Tiller repaired and reinstalled.

Here are some tips on cleanup.

Rowed 1.5 mile/Total 3.5 miles

20 Oct 17:

Skipper made a nice Sunbrella cover, we will use it when St. Jacques camps out in the Sunfish Shack to make room for other project boats in the carriage house.

Click here to learn more about the cover.

27 Oct 17:

Took the cover off St. Jacques today to see if there were any leaks after last week's rain. The interior was dry, so we decided to fix that and went out for a row. Skipper practiced her pike drills.

Once we were done we took a few glamor shots.

Rowed 1 mile/Total 4.5 miles

04 Nov 17:

Beautiful day on the bay so we decided to take St. Jacques out for a cruise, test out the oars and spritsail.

Skipper forgot her treasure magnet on a string, I ran back inside to get it and she took a nap.

I rowed for a bit, we ducked into the bayou and then Skipper took another nap.

When she woke up worked on shifting ballast to find the best balance with various centerboard and rudder positions. The area we sailed in today was very shallow, maybe 2 feet, so the rudder and centerboard had to stay up a bit. The boat sailed better with Skipper aft and me amidships, and i could move athwartships on the center seat as needed for heel on a reach or to help roll though a tack. A small amount of movement forward could help finish a tack, but too much weight forward all the time, like sitting on the forward seat, slowed down the tacks with the rudder partially up. We also played with the sheeting angle, and found that running the sheet back to the lee side quarter knee helped limit curl in sail. Later in the day we put a belaying pin on each knee and tried running the sheet around that, control was better but the sheet could pop loose at times. We will be looking for a sheet hook or maybe different spot for the pin, keeping in mind that it is still a small open boat and we don't need to get too fancy.

I went overboard to get some video, Skipper did a great job in the shoal water swinging by for a few photo passes.

I am still surprised by the amount of room in the boat, and very pleased with the stability and versatility. A great boat to pirate about in.

Miles Rowed 1.5/Total 6.0

07 Nov 17:

Cover holding up well, keeping the rain and dust off, so far the squirrels have been kept at bay.

30 Nov 17:

We wanted to try out a fixed shoal rudder for the Penobscot and Skipper thought we should give the Dabber rudder a try. We moved the pintles to test it out.

The boat sailed great through all points with a balanced helm. Skipper liked the tiller being higher, maybe not this high with the final version.

The blade is abit small, so we will add a little tail to the new blade.

18 Dec 17:

We sail in a lot of shallow water and I had too many rudder control lines rigged up for the Skipper to mess with, so why not design a fixed blade shoal rudder for ST. JACQUES? We tried out the Dabber rudder and it worked great, so we cut out a new blade with a little extra added to the trailing edge.

New blade comparison

New blade compared to Dabber blade.

Dabber rudder and new shoal blade comparison. I don't think the Dabber blade is exactly stock.

Sealed the new blade with TotalBoat Wood Sealer Varnish Primer.

All the shoal rudder bits.

The tiller end kept snapping due to some soft grain, so I grafted in a piece of cumaru (Peruvian teak). Cut the old piece out with a Japanese pull saw. Fastened the new piece with Pettit Flexpoxy.

19 Dec 17:

Tiller end has a piece of cumaru teak scarfed into it. Fastened with TotalBoat THIXO thickened epoxy. Sanded with 60 grit on a random orbital sander then 120 grit. Varnished with TotalBoat Marine Spar Varnish Gleam Satin. Tiller is cypress, tiller end is cuamru, outer rudder yoke is okoume, inner tiller yoke is cypress. Fastened with silicone bronze screws. Tiller pin is the same pin used on the old style Sunfish rudder.

30 Dec 17:

Day sail in December? Why not? We needed one more picture for the Small Boats Monthly January article and an outstanding photographer was handy, so the Skipper wrangled me and the boat for a short jaunt. Image credits to Kaitlynn.

At one point we were rowing and sailing against the flood tide, trying to get into position for the right lighting and boat profile. We got it.

Back to the beach!

Read our Penobscot 14 article on Small Boats Monthly.

Jan 2018:

ST. JACQUES was the focus of our article in Small Boats Monthly January 2018.

30 Mar 18:

Light winds so we took ST. JACQUES out for a row to the bayou and hoped to test out rudder repairs on the way back. I rowed from the front seat for about a mile, Skipper steered and paddled a bit. The Penobscot 14 carries well and is fun to row.

Left the bayou to head home, wind had picked up to 12 gusting to 15 on a broad reach. We dropped the centerboard and popped the brailing line loose on the spritsail. Skipper surfed us back to the house through lots of fetch on the lee shore, ST. JAQUES rolled through all of it on an even keel and felt very controllable. The spritsail acted like a spinnaker, and we didn't have to worry about ducking a boom or a gybe. We covered the last 3/4 mile in under 8 minutes :) As we neared shore we brailed the sail and glided in to shore. Rolled ST. JACQUES back up into the yard on the dolly and she got a fresh water rinse.

Here's a few pictures of the boat to see how we outfitted for the morning expedition. Outfitting for the 1:20 cruise included coffee, water, two foam seats, a throwable device/cushion, 2 towels, a blankie for Skipper and of course the PFDs.

Here are some shots of the rudder uphaul and downhaul. The uphaul is used primarily on land and during launch and recovery. The downhaul is used to counteract the buoyancy of the rudder. The rudder worked great during the sail.

Miles rowed 1.5/Total 7.5

06 Jun 18:

Took ST. JACQUES out for a row and sail, wind 12 gusting 15.

We keep a dime at the base of the mast for good luck.

Cleaned up and ready for a nap.

Miles rowed 0.5/Total 8.0

03 Aug 18:

Nice day for exercise, stretch the muscles, our Penobscot 14 ST. JACQUES took us out for a row. Grabbed some PFDs, water, crackers, bluetooth speaker and launched from the dolly. The tide was running out and wind was light from the East, so we headed upwind/uptide with the hopes of rowing for a half our or so, then drifting back with the tide and breeze. The plan worked! Temp was already in lower 80s with humidity up, but a nice scattered cloud deck started building and we had a bit of shade. We also wore some new sun protective gear from Columbia, tops and long pants to keep the skin covered but omni-cool and omni-shade fabrics that breathe. They worked great, no sizzle feeling on exposed skin. Skipper also tried out her new watercolor pencil sketch pad. A couple of osprey were out looking for breakfast, and a batch of white egrets flew by, otherwise the bay was pretty quiet.

ST. JACQUES will be an important part of our cross fit program, a beautiful rowing machine that gets us out into nature.

Miles rowed 2.0/Total 10.0

15 Aug 18:

Tiller v1.0 on ST. JACQUES has broken several times where it necks down to fit inside the yoke. I chose to make it out of solid cypress vs laminate it or pick a harder wood. The cypress I selected was also pretty grainy on the business end. We tried grafting in a teak end and the teak held up, but the cypress fractured the next time just ahead of the teak splice.

So we regrouped and decided to make the end of the tiller as wide as the yoke, and we will use Sunfish tiller straps to attach it. We will also laminate a strip of marine grade oak plywood between outer layers of cypress.

Skipper wants the tiller to be a little straighter up forward and sit a little higher, but the original tiller still gives us the basic shape.

Fastened the boards with TotalBoat THIXO, brushed onto both faces.

Clamped the boards, light clamping just until the epoxy started to squeeze out.

Sorry for the fuzzy photo, but we are shooting for a tiller along the lines of Culler's 16 foot Biloxi catboat, designed for Hagan.

Mock up to get the angles off of the tiller yoke and set the tiller height above the seat, Skipper wants it about 16 inches off of the deck.

Used the old tiller for a few of the lines then straightened out the forward end.

Cut out the tiller with a jigsaw, then ripped off the sides on a table saw to get it to the proper width.

Rounded the edges with a 3/4 inch roundover bit on a compact trim router, then did some shaping with the Stanley #51 spokeshave, belt sander and random orbital sander.

Shaped the tiller some more, decided against the goose egg knob.

Attached tiller with Sunfish tiller straps, machine screws, washers and nylon stop nuts. We will be looking for some bronze hardware long term, if this v3.0 works.

Set the tiller to 16 inches above the aft deck.

A little camouflage until we find bronze hardware.

Log of ST. JACQUES.

24 Aug 18:

Tape is off, ready for Sea Trials!

Stay tuned.

21 Sep 18:

Sea Trials for the tiller, the Skipper approves! New tiller sits at just the right height, and can be raised to duck under during a tack.

Oarlocks and sockets getting some nice patina, and varnish is holding up well.

We put a little cove and bead detail along the edge of the seat like BARBASHELA had, it tricks the eye to make the seat look a little thinner.

Mast thwart detail, the bolts have wingnuts so it is removable.

Fun clouds today, wind 3-4 knots, high tide with a little river current running out.

When Skipper wants to sheet in a bit more on a broad reach, she throws the sheet over the belaying pin to give it more of an aft angle. This helps keep the foot of the sail flat.

Mess About Mode, we carry a few towels to keep bilge wiped down, a couple of seat cushions and a picnic bag with sailing knives of course. ST. JACQUES normally has a paddle and boat hook, today we also tried out the padook, which worked great.

Dynamic Dolly for beach launch and recovery.

She's getting a little grimy, time for a TILEX wipedown before the Sunbrella cover goes back on.

First coat of varnish on ST. JACQUES' tiller! We used TotalBoat Gleam Marine Varnish Satin, thinned just a bit for better penetration, brushed on with a chip brush. #totalboat

Miles rowed .25/Total 10.25 Thanks a lot Skipper for sailing us all over the place, maybe next time I get to row more. :)

27 Sep 18:

Second coat of varnish on the Penobscot 14 tiller, TotalBoat Gleam Marine Varnish Satin, applied with a Fooler chip brush from Jamestown Distributors. And a better look at the new tiller and tiller straps.

28 Sep 18:

Hauled ST. JACQUES out for a row and sail. The cover is working out nicely, held up for about a year now through a few tropical storms and lots of rain. We have rinsed it off once and it is keeping the inside of the boat clean and dry.

The sail and spars were stored outside the boat for a few days, they rewarded us by creating this beautiful "Bill Knot," a magic creation of unidentifiable origin consisting of the bridle, mainsheet and bridle.

Some spritsail basics, the mast, sprit, sail and control lines. Peak of the sail is the peak, top forward corner is the throat, the bottom forward corner is the tack and lower aft corner is the clew. The upper spar is the sprit, hoisted up on the mast with a "snotter" line. There is also a thin "brailing line" running up to the top of the mast, around the leech of the sail and back to the top of the mast, it is used to collapse the sail and reduce sail area.

We can also secure the lower part of the sail with a sail tie. Our spritsail is lashed on with a marlin hitch in a permanent position, if we ever to reef it we would just roll up the foot to the reef points and not fiddle with lowering the throat, readjusting snotter etc...We would most likely brail the sail if needed, then maybe remove the sprit and "scandalize" the sail if we needed to reduce sail area fast. WOuldn't be pretty but it would get the sail area reduced.

Top of the sprit and an idea on how tight the brailing line secures the upper part of the sail.

Spritsail brailed and foot furled.

Video tour of the spritsail lines.

Miles rowed 1.5/Total 11.75

28 Oct 18:

Went out in ST. JACQUES for a little exercise, light wind so we planned to row a bit against the ebb tide and then catch a ride back to the dock. Sail a bit if the wind picked up. Skipper found out she could scull with the rudder and make about 2 knots. Also a good test for the new tiller design, it held up great.

We used the padook to clear the groins, I rowed a bit, Skipper sculled, then I rowed back with a little wind on the top of the brailed sail. On the way back we spotted a few snags that were hazards to navigation, dock and seawall boards and knocked loose by Hurricane Michael, so we grabbed them with with the padook and brought them to shore. ST. JACQUES first marine salvage operation!

Miles rowed 1.5/Total 13.25

Log of ST. JACQUES.

02 March 2019:

We built our Penobscot primarily for rowing, so she goes out sometimes without the sprit sail rig and rudder. Launch and recovery from the Dynamic Dolly is easy.

We grab our PFDs, a few towels, the padook, 2 cushions and snacks.

The vintage long leaf pine oars are working out great, we plan to add leathers now that we have an idea where the best spot for them is.

Miles rowed 2.75/Total 16

03 Mar 19:

Rigged our Penobscot 14 ST. JACQUES for sail today, she sports a sprit sail rig. We chose the rig for simplicity, small size of the spars, ease of use and ease of storage. We added a brailing line to collapse the sail while we are on the beach and while we are rowing. We consider it a hasty reef as well.

Skipper's ensign.

Longleaf pine oars nestle under the breasthook when underway, ready for use. The kine on the starboard belaying pin is for the snotter line, that holds the bottom of the sprit spar. The mast thwart is removable, but we have found that it makes a nice backrest when rowing from the forward seat.

The snotter line has a second purpose, it holds the mast in the thwart in the event of a capsize.

The cypress centerboard is not weighted, so we added a downhaul line with cleat, and another line to hold the centerboard up on land.

The padook worked great to paddle away from the seawall and fend off, then there was room for the oars.

The line traveler for the spritsail ties onto a belaying pin on each quarter knee. The jam cleat under the tiller is for the rudder uphaul, primarily used on land. The jam cleat on the inner transom is for the rudder downhaul line, otherwise it is free to float vertical in shoal water.

Skipper's tilt tiller design has been working great, she specified Sunfish tiller straps. My design(s) broke every time!

The Penobscot 14 has a nice 1 inch keel from the bow to just aft of the centerboard trunk, then if flows into a sizable deadwood. Arch designed the centerboard to be offset, a side benefit to that is the centerboard trunk stays clear of debris when beaching. We also added a sacrificial strip of pine along the bottom of the oak keel.

Sunbrella cover holding up great, it's covered in pine pollen vs the boat being slimed.

And a link to our Small Boats Monthly Review.

25 Apr 19:

Took ST. JACQUES out for a row, went about 4 miles. Nice day, light breeze, cool temps.

We have enjoyed having the removable slat seats, everything stays aired out and they make cleaning acces easier.

Miles rowed 4/Total 20

03 Jun 19:

Short outing in ST. JACQUES, rowed for a couple of miles then came back on a run. Here's a video of our gear.

Miles rowed 2/Total 22

04 Jun 19:

Had so much fun in ST. JACQUES yesterday I took her out again, despite the 95F heat index. Skipper took a kayak, I tried to catch her but couldn't

22 Jul 19:

Needed a photo ship to take some pictures for Small Boat Magazine so we pressed our Penobscot 14 ST. JACQUES into service. We took her out, used the padook, the paddle and rowed a bit. Then we came back close to shore and anchored with the Wilcox and Crittenden Navy 5 pounder, first time for ST. J. It held fast in the blowing gale. Storm built up so we went ashore. We experimented with boarding over the stern, and that worked well. Then I was struck with inspiration, why not load her on the dolly stern first? That worked well also, now she is just like the Herreshoff Amphi-Craft PRIM that rides backwards on her trailer. Next we gave her a fresh water wash down and sucked out the water with the cordless wet vac, easy and fast.

Miles rowed .5/Total 22.5

28 Oct 19:

ST. JACQUES had been moved around as part of Tropical Storm TETRIS, she had bits everywhere. We had her in the Carriage House for a bit and it was clear enough to move her back to the Sunfish Shack aka Penobscot Pagoda, so we gathered up her bits and dollied her around to the backyard. Along the way I noticed a light wind on the bay and 72F air temp. It only seemed right to go ahead and rig her, just to make sure wha had all the bits and lines sorted out, so she would be ready to go on her next adventure.

I got the brailing line, halyard, sheet and ensign line untangled, dropped in the mast and set the sprit, brailed and unbrailed the sail, that all worked. The ensign line was clear, and I rigged the bridle. Put on the rudder. Bay still looks nice. Skipper walked by and I said I might take ST> JACQUES out for a short row. Skipper said she'd get her hat.

We beach launched and cleared the groins usinf an oar for a push pole. Well, almost cleared, I should have pushed harder on the last push. Skipper gave a few strokes of her paddle and I was able to get the oars in the oarlocks and row out to the pier. Winds from the west, small swell, the original thought was to turn and row into the wind for about 10 minutes, then pop the sprit and take her back to the pier on a run and do some gybes and gybes there. As we took a look, a kayak fisherman appeared in that direction, so Skipper decreed that we just reach out and reach back. Fiddled with the centerboard, rudder angle and sheet angle for a few minutes, and then turned back to the dock. We actually tacked, with the assistance of a couple of strokes on the leeward oar.

Spotted a few pelicans and took some detail shots. Approaching the beach Skipper bore down on the kayaker, he had encroached on Skipper's avenue of approach, he quickly paddled away when he saw the mighty Penobscot bearing down on his ship. I think Skipper hollered "Starboard!" About 100 feet from the shore the rudder and centerboard came up and we ran ashore at 1-2 knots, perfectly lined up with the dolly.

ST. JACQUES got hauled and we gave her hull a fresh water rinse, wiped down her innards with a couple of towels. Downrigged her, this time I left the brailing line loose and rolled up the sail nicely, I had been leaving the brailing line tight, which caused creases along the sail up top. Put her nice cover on and stored her back in the Penobscot Pagoda, ready for the next trip.

First Mate's vantage point of the spritsail, aft the mast on the forward thwart.

Oarlock and vintage longleaf pine oars, the oars were gifts from our neighbor Al, his Uncle had used them on his mullet boat.

Padook and boat hook. Acceptable patina.

Centerboard trunk and mid thwart details.

Tropical front moving in off the Gulf, rain expected for the next few days. Another reason we thought it might be good to go mess about for a bit.

Played around with sheeting angles for a bit, did not come up with anything defintive.

Brailing line block at the top of the mast. We might swap this over to a small ring, and smoother line, to get that last 1/2 inch of leech opened up.

Miles rowed 0.5/Total 23.0

09 Nov 19:

A little sail and oar expedition today, thought we'd go out and chase the wind shifts. Summer and Winter are still arguing over who's in charge here, nice day today with light winds on the bay (unusual) and a forecast for overnight temps in the 30s come Tuesday. We pushed off stern first and used the paddle and padook to get out the first 30 feet and clear our sand fences. Spun a 180 and I rowed first into the light breeze, slack tide, Skipper steered. After a bit ST. JACQUES decide it was time to head back so we loosed the main, dropped the rudder and centerboard. We made it most of the way back, had some help from the pine breeze as we got close to the dock. Skipper loosened the rudder downhaul and it popped up as designed, I raised the centerboard. Skipper tried a new strategy to disembark, just moved forward and stepped over the side up by the bow, stayed dry with her Muck boots. Easier than pulling the boat sideways up by the beach, which we had been doing to save Skipper's knees, she had football injuries.

Miles rowed 1.0/Total 24.0

10 Nov 19:

Ventured out to the end of the dock with ST. JACQUES, rowed first then did some tacks and gybes in very light wind. Dropped the snack hook, brailed the sail, enjoyed a Gatorade and a few boat crackers. Skipper Skippervised from the hammock. Rowed back in, uphauled the rudder and centerboard, kissed the beach. One more day or so until the cold weather pushes its way down to Florida.

Miles rowed 0.5/Total 24.5

Happy Birthday U. S. Marine Corps!

11 Nov 19:

Launched our Penobscot 14 ST. JACQUES for a one hour mess about. Lately we have been experimenting with pushing off the beach stern first and rowing backwards for a bit to get clear of beach obstacles, then making the 180 degree turn and picking up our course. That's saves a lot of maneuvering right on the shoreline and dragging the rudder through the sand. Rowed for a half mile. Dropped the rudder and centerboard, took off the sail tie, let loose the brailing line, sheeted in and sailed back to the dock on a beam reach. Winds 8-10 mph with a few puffs, air temp 74F. At the dock I grabbed a cleat with the boat hook and looped the bow line around it, tied the end of the line around the mast and sat there for a bit, long enough to have a Gatorade.

ST. JACQUES got wiped down and we slipped her under her cover. Wind, rain and cold forecast for tomorrow, supposed to drop to blow 30-40 mph over the bay tomorrow and temp drop to 28F Tuesday night.

Miles rowed 0.5/Total 25.0

15 Dec 19:

We rigged ST. JACQUES to take some photos of her rigging for an upcoming article in Small Boats Magazine, and since she was rigged and it was a beautiful day, she went out for a nice mess about. Rowed for about 20 minutes, then popped the sprit and did some tacks and gybes. Light wind out of the South, air temp 70F. Bay was smooth.

We shaped the end of the sprit to have a little shoulder for the snotter, a Pete Culler idea.

Breeze supplied by Longleaf Pine, vintage hand shaped mullet boat oars.

SCOUT, CLARK and SACAGAWEA supervised.

Miles rowed 2/Total 27.0

Took ST. JACQUES out for a short row, half an hour. Skipper tended the tiller and we had some coffee out of the Stanley thermos.

Miles rowed 1/Total 28.0
30m / 14h0m

13 Apr 20:

We finally got around to putting leathers on our longleaf pine oars, used a kit from Shaw & Tenney.

The kit includes the instructions, leather, 2 needles, the button leather and waxed dacron thread.

The first thing to do is mark where the leathers will go on the oars. Shaw & Tenney give measurements based on oar length, and those measurement matched up to marks we had made for use on our Penobscot 14. For these 7 1/2 foot oars, the center of the leather is 25 1/4 inches from the end of the oar handle. Then wrap the leather around the oar and mark the leather, leaving a 1/8 to 3/16 inch gap. We also marked he backside of the leather with Blade so we would know which end was which, as it matters if the oar is tapered.

Next we cut the leather to width and made marks for where we would punch holes for the threads.

3/16th of an inch from the edge, 3/8th inches apart. Easy to do with this square that has the edge marked in eighths.

Nice little egg handle awl made by Dritz, sold at some Walmarts.

The awl was good to mark the hole but this 6 sized leather punch was the way to go to make all of the holes. They need to be of reasonable size to allow the needle and Dacron thread to pass through.

The leather is 10 inches long, we marked 5 inches on either side of the center mark so we'd know where to place the leather.

The kit comes with two 6 foot lengths of Dacron thread wrapped around 2 needles. Separate the threads and put a needle on each end of one thread.

Start on one end and put a baseball or shoelace stich all the way down. Use tape or string to hold the leather in place.

Work back, doubling the stitch.

End the stitch with a square knot buried under the leather.

Flatten the stitch with the Skipper's rolling pin.

Leather for buttons is also included, but we use closed oarlocks and like to be able to remove the oarlocks.

The oars are used on our Penobscot 14 ST. JACQUES. Our neighbor Al gave them to us, his Uncle made them for a Florida Mullet boat over 70 years ago. So far we have put about 30 miles on them, including a stint on BARBASHELA.

16 Jul 20:

Air Temp 76 F, Dewpoint 72 F, Wind ENE 3 knots gusting 4.

0714 Launched early in ST. JACQUES to try and intercept the dolphin, they have been coming by just after 0700 each morning. Rowed ENE into the wind for 10 minutes or so, Skipper puts the rudder down so she can steer while I provide motive power. Not much motive power this morning, we seemed to be going uphill against some river current and flood tide eddies. Skipper turned us into the roaring 3 knot breeze, I shipped the oars, lowered the centerboard and loosed the spritsail brail line. ST. JACQUES slowly turned off the wind and Skipper sailed us the 3/4 mile back home on a beautiful run. We played around a bit with moveable ballast positioning.

I think Skipper may have sculled us a bit.

Video: https://youtu.be/jyRslhfis0g

ST. JAQUES telling Sea Stories to SMEDLEY.

Rowed .75/Total 28.75
Voile et Aviron 1h / 15h 0m

17 Jul 20:

Air Temp 79 F, Dewpoint 76 F, Wind NE 9 knots gusting 10.

Took ST. JACQUES out in a little more wind to play with the sprit rig, Skipper could get her to point pretty high for a sprit, head where she wanted but at a slow pace. We fell off a bit and moved ballast aft, ST. JACQUES is happiest on a broad reach or run, which is what we envisioned when we designed her, to row out a bit against the wind and/or tide, then time it so we could ride the tide and wind back to the beach.

The brail line doesn't run as free as I like through the block at the top of the mast, which is a bronze Wilcox and Crittenden block from a Sunfish, so we are going to swap that block with something smaller. We also are going to tighten up the bridle a bit so it doesn't interfere with raising the tiller and that will give us a better sheeting angle.

Video: https://youtu.be/YdBo0A7BoGc

Bridle off of belaying pin on quarter knee.

We run the sheet around the pin at times to adjust the sheeting angle, close hauled.

The sprit is the spar that goes to the peak of the sail.

The snotter is the line that controls the setting of the sprit spar from the bottom pin. On some boats the snotter is fixed length. We like to be able to lower our sprit from down low in the boat, should too much breeze come up.

Video: https://youtu.be/ovPwWkWMRY0

22 Jul 20:

We put ST. JACQUES away in advance of an approaching storm. She rides on a Dynamic Dolly.

Video: https://youtu.be/Bar-lvhZxtg

Skipper mad the cover from Sunbrella.

Video: https://youtu.be/s6qDiIRP_Rs

13 Dec 20:

The fun thing about a blog is being able to look back a few years at the written record. Dec 2013 we were looking over Arch Davis' plans for our Penobscot 14 ST. JACQUES. We started off thinking she would have a gunter rig with a jib, and be painted white topside. And we'd use her to carry pirate garb to craft fairs...

She ended up being sprit rigged tanbark sail, with Pettit EZPoxy Sea Foam Green on the hull with RustOleum Topside Oyster White Interior. Skipper has taken many a nap in her.

And the only pirate gardbcarried is her own.

It seems like it took forever to get her to Sea Trials in the Spring of 2017, she waited patiently while many other restoration projects came and went, including the resurrection of BARBASHELA.

But now that she is finished, it seems like we've had her forever. We had her out just a few weeks ago, in quiet conversation with the bay.

17 Jan 21:

No wind and cool temps, nice morning to go out for a row in ST JACUQES. We left the sail rig ashore, once underway I ewmwmbered I should have attached the rudder so Skipper could steer from the stern sheets. She of course improvised and steered with her paddle. I thought we'd be out for about half an hour but we stayed out for 50 minutes.

Muck boots have been great, Skipper doesn't scream now when her feet hit the water.

The cover has held up great, Cat II hurricane tested. It has a little rub mark on the starboard bow where ST. JACQUES rubbed the Sunfish Shack post, and needs a new tie down on the bow, I had to cut that loose in the storm to get her free of the dolly, which was under water. Meantime we improvised with a spare sail tie.

Rowed .83/Total 30.58

29 Mar 22:

ST. JACQUES has a new trailer, a galvanized EZ Loader with 12 inch tires. Double leaf spring. We added 2 keel rollers an a pad on the back of the box frame to spread out the load on the keel, where most of the weight is carried. Also added pads under the centerboard in case it gets loose for some reason.

Oil bath bearings, new to us. They are supposed to go longer between oil changes than greased bearings, we'll see how it goes.

Swivel bunks primarily keep the boat from listing, not really load bearing, but we had them adjusted to where they touch the hull on the plank lap, which also has an internal stringer behind it. 1 1/4 inch hull thickness there vs just 1/4 inch on the plank.

Plenty of tongue, should be easy to launch. 2 inch coupler and swivel jack.

02 Apr 23:

So back to our regularly scheduled programming. I don't remember where we left off with ST. JACQUES, but he is in Lewis Boat Works to repair some hurricane rash.

And to get a refresh on the Pettit EZPoxy Sea Foam Green.

TETRIS was of course required to move EXCUSE ME over to the Sunfish Shack and open up a spot in Lewis Boat Works.

While boats were rolling around we rinsed off the Sunfish WAVE and gave ST. JACQUES a freshwater rinse of TILEX and water.

We took a tracing to get the basic shape of a dutchman.

Transferred the outline to a piece of cypress with an awl, leaving excess for shaping.

Trimmed out loose bits of the damaged gunwale with a chisel, then focused on shaping the new piece to fit. I don't like carving on the boat piece, trying to keep as much original boat as possible. If the new piece gets messed up, we just start over on a new piece while the boat breathes easy. Shaping on this piece was done with a random orbital sander and stationary belt sander, tiny bits at a time.

New piece fastened with TotalBoat THIXO Flex, a thickened flexible epoxy adhesive. The thickened epoxy fills gaps and the flexible formula tolerates the small amount of movement between different woods.

Clamps Murray, Richard and Webb are helping.

22 Feb 24:

We took ST. JACQUES out to be the photo ship for a Small Boats Nation article on a push pole duck bill attachment, she had a good time mucking about in the reeds. Skipper took the photos and I rowed for a little bit.

We're in about 12 inches of water here, ST. JACQUES needs 8 with her centerboard and rudder up.

Henning, the mariner who previously owned the 12 foot push pole, marked the pole with tape, starting around 3 feet or so. There is a yellow mark around 3 feet and another at about 5 1/2 feet. Our guess is the lower yellow mark indicated enough clearance for Henning's keel boat the top yellow mark could be for when the water was over his head...that's how we would have marked it. Henning used the pole as needed to get his boat in and out of the tidal creek behind his home.

Our Ford Edge ST SUPER SANDY got the tow vehicle honors.

Back at the Shack, telling Sea Stories to the rest of the Armada.

to be continued...

References:
Arch Davis Design
Small Boats Monthly Review

2 comments:

Douglas ElliottJanuary 16, 2018 at 5:34 AM
Some very nice work, but how do you keep the workshop so tidy?
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ClarkJanuary 16, 2018 at 6:13 AM
Hi Doug, Thanks. There is a constant battle against dust, we built the deck outside and do as much cutting as we can outside, all the saws are on rolling tables. In Florida it doesn't get too cold. If it is raining we stay inside and minimize sawing. We sweep every day, sometimes first thing in the morning is Tidy Time while we mull over the days activities. And the shop aka carriage house is only 3 years old, give us time :) http://smallboatrestoration.blogspot.com/p/small-boat-carriage-house.html
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