In 1996 I Built a 16' rowing boat, a Gloucester Light Dory, which the designer, Phil Bolger, said was his ticket into heaven. It was a joy to row and own, but since then, Bolger has gone to heaven. And last spring the dory did, too.
I have been looking for a new rowing boat to build, and this time around I have two new specs on my wish list: The boat needs to sit level in the water ("trim") with me rowing and my favorite 116# passenger seated in the stern. And if possible, the boat should accommodate our 3 1/2 h.p. outboard as an alternative to always using it for rowing. I settled on a traditional whitehall style 15' boat which I can get as a kit from Chesapeake Light Craft. Check it out at www.clcboats.com
To prepare the "boatyard" patio as a site to build the boat, I moved a fence in the front yard, cleared a space for our boat trailer, put down a paver pad for the trailer, and rehabilitated the patio by replacing broken concrete pavers and turning over all the pavers so the 60-odd year old weathered sides were down. A lot of work, done while it was still full-on summer weather.
I bought a 16'x12' canopy with sides and ends, and erected it in the boatyard, to provide shade, shelter, and protection for the boat, tools, and the builder. S calls it the "little white house".
The kit arrived 10-22, and I started building as soon as the canopy was up.
Although the design is traditional, the materials and building methods are throughly modern. The boat is to be built by stitching together plywood planks with copper wire, adding a few internal frames, and then holding it all together with fiberglass and epoxy.
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