wooden skiff project

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Waterwings

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Thought I'd post some shots of a small (11' 4" long, 4'6" beam)) skiff that a couple of my classes are building in my classroom. It comes in a kit, requires some trimming, but the assembly is interesting, using two-part epoxy, marine sealant/adhesive, nails, and screws. Material consists of African Mahogany (sides and bottom, and spruce braces, oak stem. Not a lot progress so far, but it's starting to look like a boat. Took the shots with my cell phone today, so they're a bit shaky. Oh, it'll have 3 bench seats in it and can support up to 450lbs.


skiff (1) by Waterwings2010, on Flickr


skiff (2) by Waterwings2010, on Flickr


skiff (3) by Waterwings2010, on Flickr


skiff (4) by Waterwings2010, on Flickr
 
That is really cool. I've built a couple jons like that. Next year I'm thinking of building my dream jon with aluminum this time. I really wish I would have had that class. All we got to build were sheds....still have mine though..outboard storage. So you teach that class? Also what is that class..woodshop?
 
Thanks :) . Not woodshop. We've moved all the desks to the perimeter of the classroom to make room for the boat, while we do this project. The class is jrotc, and this project is assisting the students to learn boat/ship terminology, along with some hands-on learning. We'll probably paint it instead of staining, and then do a float-test on the extremely small pond located on school property. After that, we're thinking of raffleing it off, or selling it, to try and get some money back on our cost. It will also have metal oarlocks, and comes with 2 brand new 6.5' oars. :)
 
Well lemme know if you do end up selling raffle tickets. I live half a continent away but would love to support some future officers and more cool projects like that.
 
Here are some shots of the boat I took with my cell phone before I left school this morning 9out today due to weather). It's getting there, slowly but surely. We got the bottom attached on Monday morning, but still need to do final trimming and sanding around the lower part where it meets the sides. Got the inside vertical braces installed yesterday. The two long boards laying in the bottom are the seat support rails (seat risers as they call them) were going to be installed today, but that task fell-through with school being cancelled. The cross-brace across the middle will be removed once the upper side rails (gunwales) are installed. Still a ways to go.

95_27_04_11_10_34_48.jpeg


95_27_04_11_10_35_31.jpeg


95_27_04_11_10_36_08.jpeg
 
Awesome!! That's starting to look like a skiff now! Where did ya get the kit? I was kinda pondering a project like that to build with...and for my daughter. Also was it reasonable in cost?
 
Thanks. We made additional progress today and got the seat risers and top rails (gunwales) installed. Still some trimming, caulking, sanding, etc left to do. We got the kit from the Alexandria Seaport Foundation. This link contains pricing and ordering info for either the entire package, or just the plans.

https://alexandriaseaport.org/bevins_skiff/bevins_flyer.htm
 
Thanks for the link. My daughter and I are going to build the model skiff tomorrow when she gets out of school. I have a boatload of aluminum sheeting.....maybe I'll build a little larger scale model.
 
Wish we had classes like that when I was in high school. Practical experience and it looks like fun. Plus, when she's finished, geting her out the door and down the hall will be a helluva team building exercise! :D
 
LeviStevenson said:
Thanks for the link. My daughter and I are going to build the model skiff tomorrow when she gets out of school. I have a boatload of aluminum sheeting.....maybe I'll build a little larger scale model.


Post some pics of the model when y'all finish it. That'll be a great project for your daughter and yourself. :)


lbursell said:
Wish we had classes like that when I was in high school. Practical experience and it looks like fun. Plus, when she's finished, geting her out the door and down the hall will be a helluva team building exercise! :D


This is the first year we've done this, and we're thinking of maybe doing one or two next year. We did a test-run getting through the door when the sides were flat before assembly, then we carry it about 50 feet down the hall, through another door into the old woodshop and out the garage door. We didn't want to do a reenactment of the proverbial sailboat-in-a-basement scenario, lol. If I miscalculated, I'll flip it upside down, add some short legs to it, and it'll become a new desk, lol. :shock:
 
Good looking boat.

I started to work on this boat but then the hunting season started and I haven't picked back up on it yet.

(not my work)

bysk-17.jpg


https://www.unclejohns.com/bysk14/Default.htm

Before I started the skiff I built these two boats.

IMG_1075.jpg


IMG_1182.jpg
 
Waterwings said:
Cool boats. Were they built from kits?

The first one, the bayou skiff, has a rib and stem kit, otherwise it's just following plans.

The last two pirogues were built using plans. Basically involved laying out a piece of 4x8 1/4" plywood, drawing 1 foot square grids, plotting points and using a long piece of wood as an arch to draw my lines, cut them out and use the stitch and glue method to assemble.

IMG_0986.jpg


I'm looking forward to building my skiff soon. I'll eventually try and tackle a sit on top kayak from www.jemwatercraft.com.
8)
 
Thought I'd add some updated pics of the skiff project. We got the keel and skeg installed yesterday, and there's still some rough sanding left to do once the marine adhesive cures (which will be on Monday).

95_07_05_11_9_56_12.jpeg


95_07_05_11_9_56_52.jpeg


95_07_05_11_9_57_20.jpeg


Once the bottom is done, we'll flip it over, do some finish caulking along all of the inside seams, install the 3 bench seats, do some finish sanding, paint it (once we get the paint), then finally attach the oarlocks. I'l post some final pics of the interior before it's painted. Yesterday, the local newspaper came out to the school and took some info down, all the students names that have worked on it, plus they brought a photographer to take some pics of it. The students are stoked that they might be in the newspaper. :)
 
Looking good. are y'all going to coat it with fiberglass and epoxy resin? Or rely on marine urethane or paint?
 
Thanks. We're going for Marine primer and paint, once I decide on the colors and order it. The kit came with 7 tubes of marine caulk (real similar to 3M 5200 stuff), and we used 3 tubes, plus the 2-part epoxy that the scarphed joints (bottom and sides) were glued together with. Below are updated shots I took today. The seats are just sitting in there at the moment, and we're hoping to get them and the oarlock brackets pre-drilled tomorrow. I'm thinking of doing the seats in stain and spar varnish. If the schedule goes as planned (and weather cooperates), we're looking to do a float-test next week sometime.

95_10_05_11_5_59_12.jpeg


95_10_05_11_5_59_48.jpeg


95_10_05_11_6_00_24.jpeg
 
Update to the skiff project. We ordered the paint, and the entire boat is now primed (no shots of completed priming). The interior has also been painted with the final color, but no shots of that to post yet. The final color will be Interlux brand Kensington Gray, with the bottom and waterline red. These are cell phone shots, so the quality is not that good. We did the priming and final coats outside due to the fumes from the paint. The blue in the photos is painters tape we applied over the seat riser rails and gunwales, as they've already been stained and coated with two coats of Minwax Helmsman Spar Polyurethane. The 3 bench seats (not installed yet) have also been stained and urethaned.

normal_skiff_5a_primer.jpg


normal_skiff_5b_primer.jpg
 
Looks like it has potential. My dad tried to build a punt, actually made two of them, water tested them, then crushed them with the tractor before burning the carcass and found a 1032 to tie to the back of his 28' Chris Craft.

Jamie
 

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