home

E

very boat a man builds is an improvement on the last. Some men build a longer vessel. Others strive for one that sails closer to the wind. After 16 months of work, Bob Andrews has launched his version of the perfect craft. He says, “I built this one because I hope I can get in and out of it without too much trouble.”

Recently, a small crowd and two dogs gathered at the Town Beach to help him launch “Missy”, his new vessel.

Missy’s inaugural spin. Bob takes a turn at the oars moments after launching her.

The launch crowd. The boat is being steadied so Bob can step in.

A few years ago, Bob decided to build a small boat. Something he could row or paddle. A craft for exploring the creeks around Oriental. Maybe venturing onto the Neuse River on calm days. The vessel would have to be light enough to be easily launched. Yet long enough to track well in the water.

So he built a stitch and glue kayak to a Chesapeake Light Craft design. The plywood panels were held together with epoxy fillets. This made for a light, easily built hull. It also made for a narrow vessel – a shortcoming that became apparent when Bob tried to exit the craft.

He says after one 3-hour outing he found himself stuck in the kayak. “I couldn’t get out of the boat. I had to upset it – tip it over – so I could fall out of it.”

The next craft, he decided, would be wider.

The lines for Bob’s new boat. Just over 18 feet long and 3 feet wide, she is designed for recreational rowing. The easily driven hull is wider than a rowing shell but narrower than a traditional rowboat. Bob used the yellow fishing line and sinkers to mark straight lines on the hull during construction.

Bob’s new boat is the “Liz” design by Ken Bassett of Onion River Boatworks. In addition to being wider that his kayak, it met another criteria. Bob says, “it had to look nice”. Bob didn’t look at many boat plans. He just saw Missy’s lines and knew she was the boat for him. Whether she proves stiffer remains to be seen. “The test,” he says, “is if I can sit on her gunwale”.

Instead of building his boat from scratch – lofting the vessel’s lines on the shop floor, steam bending ribs, cutting the planks from boards – Bob purchased a kit from Newfound Woodworks. The parts – plans, pre-cut cedar strips, plywood and boards – arrived at his home in December 2011.

He cleared a space in his garage. He made an entry in a fresh notebook – “Kit arrived 12/2/11 3:30 PM”. Then he started building.

Bob’s log. His dog Emma – a Pet of the Month – looks on. He says her biggest contribution was, “staying out of the way.”

Bob with his boat 3 months before she was launched. The hull is complete but the finish work remains.

Missy’s hull is strip planked. To provide the hull’s shape, Bob first secured a series of temporary forms to a strong back. Then he clamped and edge glued thin cedar strips over the forms. When the hull was complete, the forms were removed, leaving an empty hull. For extra strength the hull was sheathed in fiberglass and epoxy. Gunwales, a foredeck and other structural parts were added. After plenty of sanding and touch up, the hull was varnished for ultraviolet protection.

Bob says the hardest part about building his new boat was fitting the vessel’s stem. The stem is the timber at the vessel’s bow where the long, thin planks meet. This called for some creative wood bending and plenty of hands, an endeavor that, “turned into a three man job with one man spreading glue, one man holding and one man clamping. That was a job!”

Missy has a double stem. The strips that make up the hull meet at the dark, outer stem. A second, inner stem, is inside the hull. Bob says woods used in Missy’s construction include walnut, mahogany, red, yellow and white cedar.

Recently, Bob put the finishing touches on his new boat. He loaded her on a trailer. Fitted her oars. Gave her a final coat of varnish. Then he penciled the final entry in his notebook – “Put on numbers and name. 1 hr”. Three hundred and thirty seven hours of work after she showed up in a box, Missy was ready for her first voyage.

Bob towed her to the Town Beach where friends carried her to the river’s edge.

In keeping with tradition, she made contact with the water stern first. Bob says, “When I was growing up, I always heard it was bad luck to put a boat in the water bow first.” After an impromptu baptism (river was was splashed on the bow in lieu of champagne) Bob stepped into his new boat, grabbed the oars and rowed into the Neuse.

A splinter on the Neuse. Bob’s friends had a chance to man Missy’s oars. Here, one makes a wide loop off the Town Beach.

Bob is pleased with Missy’s performance. Following his inaugural river spin he loaded her back on to the trailer. He took her home, dried her off and pondered some minor adjustments – like changing the height of the oars.

Bob Andrews says he doesn’t plan to build another boat. But, he adds, “I’ve said that before too.”

Posted Friday May 3, 2013 by Bernie Harberts