Steve Sanford
Well-known member
Here's is what I have been doing - along with some gunning - since late September. It began as a "repair" to a "free boat" for good friend and fellow Long Island native Craig Kessler - recently retired from DU. I have just posted the entire tale - along with ~ 170 images - from Start to Sea Trials on my site. I am posting 3 shorter treatments here at duckboats.net - but the full blow-by-blow is at: http://stevenjaysanford.com/white-wing-2-man-scooter/
In the quest for a good 2-man Scooter, we examined this "find" and had some concerns about size and safety. I hauled it north to Pencil Brook Boatworks but had some other ideas.....
Rather than throw good time and money into this vessel, I decided to convert one of my "fleet" into a gunning boat.
This Scooter - ultimately to emerge as White~Wing - began life as an O'Day Daysailer. This one was pretty beat up, destined never to live under full sail...but she was the right size, about 17-foot LOA with a beam of 6 feet. Here she is after about an hour with the Sawzall:
This profile shows the low profile we are looking for:
The design began with the services of "Uncle Al" - a gunning partner who has all of the skills needed for a "hunt test dummy"....his son looks on admiringly but my wife has seen this movie before.
I continued the design process by striking a new sheer line with careful measurements and my steel tape. The sheer rises toward the bow. The skilsaw did most of the cutting.
Next, I installed a pair of inwales - beautiful vertical grain Douglasfir salvaged by my neighbor from the old high school bleachers.
Then I started clamping a variety of battens and posts in place to establish all of her lines. Here is White-Wing's profile:
Here are some other key shapes, especially the deck crown:
Now she's in the shop. This view shows the hull sections and the high crown:
I used a router to cut the radii of the framing for the fantail stern - what I'm calling the harpin (traditional boatbuilding terms do not always translate precisely to duckboats - and especially those mixing older and newer technologies):
Here are most of the framing members dry-fitted. The bulkheads are 1/2" AC plywood - good wood from my local lumberyard.
Lots of time with epoxy and 'glass - and a few fasteners - got all of the framing in place. Notice how the purlins frame the sides of the cockpit.
Still a bunch of details before I can start nailing the decking on....
All the best,
SJS
In the quest for a good 2-man Scooter, we examined this "find" and had some concerns about size and safety. I hauled it north to Pencil Brook Boatworks but had some other ideas.....
Rather than throw good time and money into this vessel, I decided to convert one of my "fleet" into a gunning boat.
This Scooter - ultimately to emerge as White~Wing - began life as an O'Day Daysailer. This one was pretty beat up, destined never to live under full sail...but she was the right size, about 17-foot LOA with a beam of 6 feet. Here she is after about an hour with the Sawzall:
This profile shows the low profile we are looking for:
The design began with the services of "Uncle Al" - a gunning partner who has all of the skills needed for a "hunt test dummy"....his son looks on admiringly but my wife has seen this movie before.
I continued the design process by striking a new sheer line with careful measurements and my steel tape. The sheer rises toward the bow. The skilsaw did most of the cutting.
Next, I installed a pair of inwales - beautiful vertical grain Douglasfir salvaged by my neighbor from the old high school bleachers.
Then I started clamping a variety of battens and posts in place to establish all of her lines. Here is White-Wing's profile:
Here are some other key shapes, especially the deck crown:
Now she's in the shop. This view shows the hull sections and the high crown:
I used a router to cut the radii of the framing for the fantail stern - what I'm calling the harpin (traditional boatbuilding terms do not always translate precisely to duckboats - and especially those mixing older and newer technologies):
Here are most of the framing members dry-fitted. The bulkheads are 1/2" AC plywood - good wood from my local lumberyard.
Lots of time with epoxy and 'glass - and a few fasteners - got all of the framing in place. Notice how the purlins frame the sides of the cockpit.
Still a bunch of details before I can start nailing the decking on....
All the best,
SJS
