Steve Sanford
Well-known member
All~
I built WHITE-WING a couple of years ago - cut down from a 17-foot O'Day Daysailor - to serve as a 2-man scooter (aka layout boat). I told the tale here and at:
https://stevenjaysanford.com/white-wing-2-man-scooter/
Here she is as-built on Flanders Bay.
She came back home to PENCIL BROOK BOATWORKS for:
1. Wider cockpit. I was too conservative when I laid out the original cockpit width. Using her showed that she needed about 6 more inches through the shoulders.
2. Stronger Oarlock Stanchions. I had added - pretty much as an afterthought - a pair of oarlocks screwed to the half-inch coamings. One failed with heavy use - because the coaming split. So, I mounted a pair on their own stanchions, bolted through the deck.
3. Canvas. I had never completed the sewing on the storage cover. I replaced grommets across the front with turnbuttons (Common Sense Fasteners) and replaced the strap eyes + lashings along the sides with shock cord loops + hooks - for handier use when afloat. I also straightened the bent bow on the "cowling".
4. Safety Stick. After re-mounting to the new coamings, I added shock cord + loops to hold the safety stick in place. It was too easily dislodged with 2 gunners in the vessel.
* * *
Here she is ready for surgery - adding 3 inches to each side. I play around with the batten so I can get a sweet, fair curve.
I had to cut out the forward half of the cockpit carlin (longitudinal framing member) and replace it with a section I laminated from 3 layers of 1/2-inch AC plywood - so I could cut a tight curve that had been impossible in the Dougfir I had used on the original carlins.
Note the Strap Eyes + Lashings - to be replaced later.
Here are the new coamings. I used 3/4-inch PVC lumber - because it would take the tight bend through the shoulder area. They were set in 3M 5200 and fastened with deck screws. (The Safety Stick is in place for measurements.).
Note how the port side of the cowling bow has been bent down. I had used half-inch (EMT) conduit. It probably needs additional support - or stronger tubing - because gunners tend to put their weight on it as they climb down into WHITE-WING.
Here you can see the lower port side. I removed it and re-bent it in a vise.
Here I have re-installed the chocks for the Safety Stick (which keeps gun barrels pointed up and out of the cockpit).
This is the first set of Oarlock Stanchions I made. Sweet lines - but I changed my design.
I decided to 1) locate the Stanchions outboard of the Lap Cover and 2) make them taller than the Coamings - so the oars could always be lifted well clear of lumpy seas.
As usual, the "cut-offs" from each block will serve as the backer board below decks - so the fender washers and nuts on the carriage bolts make up square.
So, that sleek set of low-profile Oarlocks Stanchions (pads?) - all sealed and primed - now hangs on the wall - waiting for the right boat to come along.....
Here are the new Stanchions - bedded in 5200 and fastened with s/s carriage bolts. The wood is Black Locust and the socket is bronze.
Note the height of the Stanchions - well above the Coamings - and the oars fastened in their clamp-on oarlocks so they almost touch amidships. I used the clamp-on style because these oars are made from Basswood. I do not trust such a soft wood with conventional pins bored through them at their fulcrums. As discussed elsewhere, I prefer "pinned/fixed" oarlocks on a gunning boat - especially in cold, wind, ice, mittens and the stop-and-go of tending decoys, et cetera.
These clamp-on oarlocks are not hot-dipped galvanized - just zinc-plated. So, I primed then heavily and replaced their plated-steel fasteners with s/s machine screws + lock nuts.
This shows how the Lap Cover lays inboard of the Stanchions.
The Cowling canvas has been re-installed - once again nice and taut thanks to the straightened bow.
Here are the Common Sense Fasteners (stainless steel variety) around the forward end of the cockpit (I had to add a new hem to the cover) and the shock cord loops + nylon hooks along the sides.
The taller Stanchions pose a significant risk of chafe in the Storage Cover.
Although I would have preferred leather, I did not have any on hand - so I sewed 4 layers of cloth (Sunbrella Marine) on the underside for protection.
I also reinforced an area across the foot of the cover that mice had attacked previously.
Because I dare not run a conventional "belly strap" over the ridge-pole, 2 lines from the trailer hold down her stern. I spliced some 3/8-inch nylon line to galvanized shackles - to avoid chafe.
And, I whipped (and melted) the ends that lash to the stern cleat.
I replaced the rusted machine screw (on one side) and dry-rotted decoy line (on the other) with s/s hardware. A fender washer to cover the notoriously weak holes in the license plate....
...and a lock nut (nylon insert) and washer on the flip side.
Here she is ready-to-hunt (although I still need to check the air in the tires - including the spare - and grease the hubs):
The "hide"......
These wooden Thumb Cleats free the shock cord more easily than the nylon hooks.
I added shock-cord + hooks to keep the Safety Stick in place. The white arrows show the forward position - because the ends of the Stick are beveled to match the angle of the Coamings.
I reinforced the "ridge pole" with an upper "rib" - to withstand rough-handling. The aft end sits between 2 chocks on the aft coaming.
The forward end is held in place up on the Cowling with shock cord.
Here is the cover - ready for the highway and Winter Weather.....
Now WHITE-WING can rest easily, content that All Is Well....
All the best,
SJS
I built WHITE-WING a couple of years ago - cut down from a 17-foot O'Day Daysailor - to serve as a 2-man scooter (aka layout boat). I told the tale here and at:
https://stevenjaysanford.com/white-wing-2-man-scooter/
Here she is as-built on Flanders Bay.
She came back home to PENCIL BROOK BOATWORKS for:
1. Wider cockpit. I was too conservative when I laid out the original cockpit width. Using her showed that she needed about 6 more inches through the shoulders.
2. Stronger Oarlock Stanchions. I had added - pretty much as an afterthought - a pair of oarlocks screwed to the half-inch coamings. One failed with heavy use - because the coaming split. So, I mounted a pair on their own stanchions, bolted through the deck.
3. Canvas. I had never completed the sewing on the storage cover. I replaced grommets across the front with turnbuttons (Common Sense Fasteners) and replaced the strap eyes + lashings along the sides with shock cord loops + hooks - for handier use when afloat. I also straightened the bent bow on the "cowling".
4. Safety Stick. After re-mounting to the new coamings, I added shock cord + loops to hold the safety stick in place. It was too easily dislodged with 2 gunners in the vessel.
* * *
Here she is ready for surgery - adding 3 inches to each side. I play around with the batten so I can get a sweet, fair curve.
I had to cut out the forward half of the cockpit carlin (longitudinal framing member) and replace it with a section I laminated from 3 layers of 1/2-inch AC plywood - so I could cut a tight curve that had been impossible in the Dougfir I had used on the original carlins.
Note the Strap Eyes + Lashings - to be replaced later.
Here are the new coamings. I used 3/4-inch PVC lumber - because it would take the tight bend through the shoulder area. They were set in 3M 5200 and fastened with deck screws. (The Safety Stick is in place for measurements.).
Note how the port side of the cowling bow has been bent down. I had used half-inch (EMT) conduit. It probably needs additional support - or stronger tubing - because gunners tend to put their weight on it as they climb down into WHITE-WING.
Here you can see the lower port side. I removed it and re-bent it in a vise.
Here I have re-installed the chocks for the Safety Stick (which keeps gun barrels pointed up and out of the cockpit).
This is the first set of Oarlock Stanchions I made. Sweet lines - but I changed my design.
I decided to 1) locate the Stanchions outboard of the Lap Cover and 2) make them taller than the Coamings - so the oars could always be lifted well clear of lumpy seas.
As usual, the "cut-offs" from each block will serve as the backer board below decks - so the fender washers and nuts on the carriage bolts make up square.
So, that sleek set of low-profile Oarlocks Stanchions (pads?) - all sealed and primed - now hangs on the wall - waiting for the right boat to come along.....
Here are the new Stanchions - bedded in 5200 and fastened with s/s carriage bolts. The wood is Black Locust and the socket is bronze.
Note the height of the Stanchions - well above the Coamings - and the oars fastened in their clamp-on oarlocks so they almost touch amidships. I used the clamp-on style because these oars are made from Basswood. I do not trust such a soft wood with conventional pins bored through them at their fulcrums. As discussed elsewhere, I prefer "pinned/fixed" oarlocks on a gunning boat - especially in cold, wind, ice, mittens and the stop-and-go of tending decoys, et cetera.
These clamp-on oarlocks are not hot-dipped galvanized - just zinc-plated. So, I primed then heavily and replaced their plated-steel fasteners with s/s machine screws + lock nuts.
This shows how the Lap Cover lays inboard of the Stanchions.
The Cowling canvas has been re-installed - once again nice and taut thanks to the straightened bow.
Here are the Common Sense Fasteners (stainless steel variety) around the forward end of the cockpit (I had to add a new hem to the cover) and the shock cord loops + nylon hooks along the sides.
The taller Stanchions pose a significant risk of chafe in the Storage Cover.
Although I would have preferred leather, I did not have any on hand - so I sewed 4 layers of cloth (Sunbrella Marine) on the underside for protection.
I also reinforced an area across the foot of the cover that mice had attacked previously.
Because I dare not run a conventional "belly strap" over the ridge-pole, 2 lines from the trailer hold down her stern. I spliced some 3/8-inch nylon line to galvanized shackles - to avoid chafe.
And, I whipped (and melted) the ends that lash to the stern cleat.
I replaced the rusted machine screw (on one side) and dry-rotted decoy line (on the other) with s/s hardware. A fender washer to cover the notoriously weak holes in the license plate....
...and a lock nut (nylon insert) and washer on the flip side.
Here she is ready-to-hunt (although I still need to check the air in the tires - including the spare - and grease the hubs):
The "hide"......
These wooden Thumb Cleats free the shock cord more easily than the nylon hooks.
I added shock-cord + hooks to keep the Safety Stick in place. The white arrows show the forward position - because the ends of the Stick are beveled to match the angle of the Coamings.
I reinforced the "ridge pole" with an upper "rib" - to withstand rough-handling. The aft end sits between 2 chocks on the aft coaming.
The forward end is held in place up on the Cowling with shock cord.
Here is the cover - ready for the highway and Winter Weather.....
Now WHITE-WING can rest easily, content that All Is Well....
All the best,
SJS
