intheboatshed.net

One of the treats of the Beale Park Thames Boat Show was seeing one of John Macaulay’s traditional Hebridean skiffs full of old-fashioned boatbuilding features.

Note the short floors and ribs, for example – they’re very much what one sees in a Viking ship or Viking canoe. What’s more, the oarlocks and oars obviously belong to a time before the fashion for adopting rowing racing practice brought in round oars in round oarlocks capable of being rotated.

For an earlier post on Macaulay, click here.

This interesting article sheds light on the man himself: John Mcaulay Boatbuilder. Of the virtues of wooden boats he says: ‘There is only one boat worth having and that is a wooden boat. They are unique; one off and beautiful. How anyone with any sensitivity could choose a plastic hull over a wooden one made by hand, I will never know.’

Here’s another newspaper piece in the Stornaway Gazette describing the restoration of a Western Isles boat.

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Ella skiff, panel plotting, sheet 1

Tonight, I’ve finally managed to find some time to make a little more progress on the plans for the stitch and glue flat bottomed Ella rowing skiff. We now have four drawings to show where the panels that make up this stitch and glue-built boat fit on three 8 by 4ft sheets and one 4ft by 4ft sheet of ply; and we have four tables of coordinates to enable builders to markout and finally cut out their material, create the necessary taped or butt-strapped joints  before beginning assembly.

I won’t explain how stitch and glue works here as there’s a lot of material available on this both on the Internet and in books such as my Ultrasimple Boatbuilding – the only thing I’d say is please don’t try the process without reading about it properly first. That way lies sticky madness, strange-shaped boats and epoxy glop that won’t go off, as at least some people have found in the past. Just check the forums…

Here are the drawings files you’ll need: Ella skiff plans.

A few warnings are required here.

Prospective builders should be aware that I am not a qualified naval architect and that my plans are amateur and experimental. I accept no responsibility for any injury or loss arising from building or using this boat and I urge builders and users of this boat to do so with care.

This boat is not for use on the sea or in any hazardous conditions. It is a small boat suitable for rowing on small lakes and slow-flowing rivers. It may be rowed but should not be used with an outboard of any kind unless the stern is doubled and otherwise reinforced. Even if that were done, it would be dangerous to use an outboard of more than 1hp. This boat is not designed to hydroplane and should not be made to do so – far too many fatal accidents occur each year beause some bozo thought it was fun or safe to put a large engine on a boat for which it was not designed.

I would also ask builders that if any coordinate creates a line that does not appear as it does in the drawings to contact me immediately. You may have found an error, and will need corrected measurements to be able to go forward. Also, I will want to correct anything that is wrong for the sake of future builders. In general, if you build this boat, please contact me at gmatkin@gmail.com. Especially with the first few boats built, I will want to be in close touch in order to ensure the boats are successful and the plans cause no problems.

These plans aren’t entirely complete – for example, they don’t show where the oarlocks need to go, or specify the gunwales or inwales – and I haven’t written my usual short essay yet. All of that will come.

Finally, if after all this you are still interested in building this small, simple and perhaps elegant little boat, I would strongly suggest that you build a model first! Read all about making a model here and here. There is also more on the Ella skiff design including the preliminary drawings here.

Complete plans will follow, so why not subscribe to intheboatshed.net?

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

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