Techniques – Page 169 – intheboatshed.net

Apple Pie – a project for the mid-winter break?

Apple Pie

I’ve posted about this little boat in the past, but I think the message is well worth repeating at a time when many of us are thinking about the boats we’d like to build and use during the coming year.

Chuck Merrell’s Apple Pie dinghy is so small and simple, she’s a real kitchen-table boat – that is, she’s small enough to be built on a kitchen table, and simple enough that you may well be able to finish her before anyone complains they can’t do anything useful in the kitchen because there’s a boat in the way.

Seriously, it should be possible to build her in a very short space of time, and with very little in the way of materials. She’s also a clever and useful design and would make a great first boatbuilding project. Here’s the link for Chuck’s free boat plans.

If you do build one of these boats, we’d love to hear about it! Email me at gmatkin@gmail.com.

Dale Austin built one and has kindly allowed me to post a photo of the finished boat (below). Click on the picture for an enlargement.

He has also put up a photo log complete with instructions on his own site:

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mrwizard/sail/dinghy/dinghy.html

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Matt Stiles’ stunning Joel White rowing wherry

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Instructor Justin and dog Worthington guiding young Matt on his first time in
a narrow, round-bottomed rower. I don’t think he’s talking about a fish, but
about balance in a naturally tippy boat

Yvonne Green, principal of the Boat Building Academy at Lyme Regis (see earlier posts) has promised to send us material about the student boats launched a few days ago. The first comes from Matt Stiles:

‘Matt from Buckinghamshire was the youngest student on the March course. He is a qualified RYA Dinghy Instructor and is pursuing his love for sailing and woodwork.

‘He built a 20ft Joel White Bangor Packet rowing wherry, cold moulded with 1.5mm sapele veneers (two layers diagonal, final layer fore-and-aft) spiled to simulate carvel planking and finished bright throughout.

‘Matt confessed shortly before the launch that he’d never rowed, so academy instructor and Atlantic rower Justin Adkin gave him a crash course in what not to do and advised a dry suit. Matt, happily, didn’t capsize and the wherry looked fantastic.

‘Gav, Happy Christmas. It’s a pleasure dealing with you, and we love the site. Here’s to many more communications in 2009.‘

Many thanks for the photos of this terrific piece of work by Matt. Here’s to a great Christmas despite all the gloom, and here’s to many more many more projects from Lyme!

Shanghaied out of Frisco in the Nineties by Hiram P Bailey – part 3

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‘At last we felt ourselves to be a happy ship. So happy that the spare parts (apprentices) formed a Foofoo band. A keg with the ends knocked out, and a stout canvas substituted – the drum! A skilly tin or skid with two large spoons – a kettle drum! A mouth organ; a patched incomprehensible concertina; a formidable overwhelming voice pertaining to the archangel (our youngest apprentice). Also another instrument, the eldest apprentice – who played the comb very eloquently.’

Three more chapters from Shanghaied out of Frisco in the Nineties by Hiram P Bailey today: mutiny; a bully mate suffers revenge; a strange story of a Mexican skeleton; a cracking description of a Foofoo band; and the famous dead horse ceremony.