Grandy
The Grandy Boat Company operated in the Puget Sound area from 1903 to 1967. During that time the company built boats of sizes and purposes. The replicas shown below are of a 14 ft rowing dinghy. These boats were built during my tenure at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding. The plans for these boats were taken from an original example that was owned by the school’s founder Bob Prothero.
One was built using traditional methods, similar to the original, while these other diverged with a contemporary construction style. Building these boats side by side, allowed us to compare cost, speed of build, and material waste between the construction techniques. The traditional boat is lapstrake western red cedar planking on white oak frames. The contemporary boat has a cold molded hull made up of 3 layers of wood and one of fiber glass. In addition, a sailing rig was added based on the Sid Skiff by Ray Speck.
River Dory
The history of the River Dory or Drift Boat dates back to the early 1900s. The boats started out with board-and-batten style construction and migrated to plywood as it became available. These vessels were desired because they were lightweight and maneuverable, often used for fishing, logging and recreation in rivers. There are a number of different designs that have been developed over the years. This version is a 16 foot double ender designed by Woodie Hindman. It was commissioned by our instructor at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding. We all had a lot of fun with the build, noted by the unique paint scheme and deck materials. The hull is marine plywood and the frames and scantlings are largely douglas fir. This boat will be used to traverse white water rivers in the pacific northwest.
Strip Planked Canoe
This build was part of a multi day demonstration put on by the Northwest Maritime Center at the 2023 Wooden Boat Festival. A small team built this canoe hull during the three day festival. Taking breaks along the way to talk to festival attendees about the build. I do not know the designer of this particular canoe. I do know that the spruce strips were milled from the old mast of the Schooner Martha. A well known historic vessel that frequents the PNW waters.
Savo 650 Rowboat
The Savo 650 is a 6.5 meter coastal row boat based on traditional Finnish designs, used for fishing and racing. This boat, designed by Ruud van Veelen, is a modern interpretation. This is a special build, it was my first boat project after my tenure at NWSWB and it was my first job as a boat building coach. Working with my clients, a couple from Calgary, we built this boat together. They plan to compete in the Seventy 48, a human powered only race from Tacoma to Port Townsend Washington.
Ocean Research Project Interior Build
ORP is a non profit organization dedicated to scientific research under sail. I had the opportunity to support a few refit projects on their 72’ Bruce Roberts Voyager 650 steel schooner. I made multiple doors along with designing and fabricating a secondary hatch that will be located over the saloon . The doors and the associated jambs are made of cherry and MDO to match the rest of the boats design esthetic. The door design includes a small spacer pad around the handle which allowed the use of standard hardware.
Ocean Research Project Hatch
The hatch, located over the main saloon is designed to open in both directions (by swapping hinge pins from for to aft). The hatch is made with one inch Coosa board, glued together with thickened epoxy and the windows are half inch polycarbonate. The hatch will get a coat of fiberglass and be painted white prior to installation.
Bulkhead Doors
These watertight bulkhead doors were made in collaboration with 59 North Sailing. There are 3 doors which are part of a refit that divides this Swan 59 ICEBEAR into three watertight compartments. The doors are made from a combination of solid Sapele, 3mm Sapele plywood, structural foam and associated hardware. The jambs are made from solid Sapele and are attached with screws and epoxy per the specification of the naval architect. Everything was finished with multiple coats of marine varnish.
