The dream... A boat made of driftwood, on the cheap, no chemicals, a big 'ol boat bonfire at the end of the trip. Say goodbye to storage fees!
30 days of building in the beautiful sunshine. Nailed it! But not before de-nailing it... The driftwood lumber that is. I may have developed some good karma by removing a major tetanus hazard from sunlight beach.
Beach combing is a lot more fun than shopping at the lumber yard. After a couple days and a bunch of hand carried loads I had what I needed to begin cutting the frames.
Drift plywood got stacked for drying. I nearly sank my rowboat gathering these heavy pieces. That would have been pretty ironic. I am sure the residents of sunlight beach were a little perplexed and possibly entertained by my attempts to transport these sheets of waterlogged plywood.
The transom begins to take shape from a nice 3/4" piece of drift-ply.
Having done it once, I would not recommend cutting frames from driftwood. Perhaps with a table saw it might work better. Very time consuming. Though, having done it once, does increase the odds that I'll do it again!
Frames are ready for assembly. Quite the mix of woods. I had to do 2 over again as they disintegrated when the screws went in.
I found this piece half buried in the sand. Carrying/ dragging/ rolling/ tumbling this log a 1/4 mile down the beach proved entertaining for local residents.
41.7 degrees... perfect! Well, close enough.
Sawing a bowpost by hand.... Whew! My muscles are now ready for rowing season.
Drift Boats & River Dories by Roger Fletcher, $50 bucks. Building a boat with deck screws and driftwood, $ priceless.
Lines: The 16ft Double-Ender with Transom by Woodie Hindman
Starting to wonder if this driftwood is actually gonna hold up.
Kleo the cat is doubtful.
With transom, bow post and frames constructed...
Time for what boatbuilders do best.
Another beach combing find. The driftwood dory takes on its character. The love boat.
My neighbor Curtis lent me his building construction scrap pile. ...Boat building gold! 3/8" ply for the bottom. A little thin but as my motto for this boat build goes... "That 'll do."
Also from the scrap pile, 2x6" lumber which I ripped with a power hand saw and hand planed ... also not recommended. Gunwales and chine logs, Check.
Next step, wait for the right weather to glue the scarfs for the plywood panels, gunwales and chine logs.
0 comments:
Post a Comment