Tag: flatiron skiff

Intheboatshed.net skiff – now we can make a model

[ad name=”intheboatshed-post”]

Model drawing sheet 1

Model drawing sheet 2

Model drawing sheet 3

Model drawing sheet 4

Model drawing sheet 5

Well, now we come to a moment of truth, and although I’m optimistic that what has worked before will work again, I don’t know for certain how it will go!

Tonight I hope to make a model of the Julie skiff, and I hope some of you readers will also be interested in having a go. So I have made up some drawings that I will print out and stick to cereal box card (I might use model maker’s sheet plastic material, if I was feeling posh).

Then I’ll cut out the components and make the model up using sticky tape.

Making a model is a useful and even important preliminary step before starting boatbuilding, so if you’d like to play this game too, open up the images above by clicking on each of them, and then print them all at exactly the same size. Unless you want to make a large model, A5 would be reasonable in Europe, and some standard size that would be about half-letter would be good in the USA.

If you do make a model, please send us a photo at gmatkin@gmail.com and we’ll put up a gallery here at intheboatshed.net. It would be great to see some.

See the whole series of posts on this project:

Complete free plans package for the intheboatshed.net flat-bottomed 15ft 6in skiff
intheboatshed.net skiff – drawings and coordinates for stitch and glue
intheboatshed.net skiff – photos of our model, and maybe yours too?
Intheboatshed.net skiff – now we can make a model
Intheboatshed.net skiff progress
Early drawings for a 15ft 5in lightweight flat-bottomed American-style skiff

Don’t miss out on something good – subscribe to intheboatshed.net!

Intheboatshed.net skiff progress

[ad name=”intheboatshed-post”]

Julie – a flat-bottomed 15ft 6in skiff from intheboatshed.net.
As usual, click on the image for something much bigger!

This is the easy-to-build stitch and glue version of the Julie skiff, named after my partner. A more challenging traditional version is to come later, but meanwhile I think this straightforward s&g build should appeal to many first- and second-time boatbuilders.

She has a good hull that will row nicely, and has been laid out for convenience and easy construction with the number of parts reduced to a minimum consistent with a strong, rigid structure.

In this post you can see that I’ve made some significant progress towards completing the plans, but the next big job, of course, is to map out the panels, which I intend to do in the next few days. I’d be delighted to hear from anyone out there who is interested in this project.

A question from a reader has prompted me to explain the foredeck detail. It’s not meant to be used as a seat, and I’ve placed it 3in below the sheerline partly because I think it looks nice but also because it provides somewhere to keep a mooring line and maybe a small anchor. I haven’t drawn them yet, but the idea is to have two drains to open water at the wide, aft end of the foredeck area.

See the whole series of posts on this project:

Complete free plans package for the intheboatshed.net flat-bottomed 15ft 6in skiff
intheboatshed.net skiff – drawings and coordinates for stitch and glue
intheboatshed.net skiff – photos of our model, and maybe yours too?
Intheboatshed.net skiff – now we can make a model
Intheboatshed.net skiff progress
Early drawings for a 15ft 5in lightweight flat-bottomed American-style skiff

Don’t miss something good – SUBSCRIBE to intheboatshed.net below:

Restored Cuban fishing boat was used by refugees fleeing to Florida

[ad name=”intheboatshed-post”]

Fishing boat used by Cuban refugees restored

Fishing boat used by Cuban refugees restored Restored fishing boat used by Cuban refugees Restored Cuban fishing boat used by refugees

Esperanza, the day she was relaunched and at earlier stages in her restoration

It’s been a great few days for people sending me photographs, and here are some more. If any of you happen to have any stories to tell and photographs to share, please send them in!

Robin Marshall, a supporter of the Florida Gulf Coast Maritime Museum sent us these photos of a little flat-bottomed fishing boat that someone had used to sail from Cuba to the USA.

I’ve tried imagining what it must have been like so far from land in such a small boat – a flatiron skiff so small and limited in terms of seaworthiness that most of us wouldn’t sail more than a mile or two out in it, let alone the 90-plus these this brave crew must have covered.

It was all years ago, so I hope the weather was good and that what they thought they wanted really was what they wanted after all!

Here’s what Robin has to say:

‘Hi Gavin.

‘I thought you might be interested in an unusual restoration.

‘Our local maritime museum the Florida Gulf Coast Maritime Museum in Cortez took on this project – the remains of a Cuban refugee fishing boat.

‘It had been left to rot in someones yard down in southern Florida and was almost rotted away.

‘Under the guidance of Bob Pitt, who is in charge of the workshop, the museum restored her using as much as possible of her original timbers. She was re-launched this weekend at our annual wooden boat festival.

‘Robin Marshall a member of the museum’

Many thanks Robin!

For more on boat restoration in the area, check this lot: Great Florida Gulf Coast Traditional Small Craft Assn

For more on flatiron skiffs and a whole range of other North American boat types, I recommend the classic work by Howard Irving Chappelle, Small American Sailing Craft. For material on building them try The Sharpie Book.