intheboatshed.net skiff – photos of our model, and maybe yours too?

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The model’s parts all fitted, so far as I can tell at this scale,
which shows there are no serious mistakes here. The
glasses case isn’t essential…

Julie and I cannibalised the card from a pack of Lidl’s Soviet-style wheat bix (my favourite, for some reason), used Pritt glue to stick 55 per cent sized prints onto the material, cut the thing out and then assembled it in the traditional skiff fashion – attach bows, bend around central frame, attach stern, add bottom, attach everything else.

It only took a few minutes and yet again the magic worked – and a serviceable if rough model boat popped up in what seemed like a moment.

It was all very satisfying. All the parts went where they were supposed to, which at least proves I haven’t got any of the important components mixed up, and the darn thing looks the way most of us would expect a modern skiff to look – and no doubt it will perform like one too.

I think we’re set fair to finalise the plans for the stitch-and-glue/tack-and-tape version of this 15ft 6in flattie skiff in the next week or two. I’ll make them available for free from this website, and elsewhere. More traditional chine-log construction plans will follow, and after that, who knows? Perhaps a variation or two will suggest themselves…

If anyone else is following this progress and has built a model, we’d love to hear from you at gmatkin@gmail.com, and to be able to add your photos to this post!

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 for a weekly newsletter

Intheboatshed.net skiff – more progress

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Nesting panels for the intheboatshed.net Julie skiff. As usual,
click on the image for a bigger picture – and please forgive the
construction lines!

I won’t say too much now as it’s after midnight, but I’ve made some useful progress.

The drawing is a mess with so many construction lines still in place, but it shows all the major panels mapped to the ply sheets. I’d like to think that most of you will make out the bottom, sides (with their traditional subtle S-curve), sternsheets and major frames, and that you can see the beginnings of a set of boatbuilding plans.

There are some smaller panels to add – breasthooks, knees, odd reinforcements, top for the thwart and so on – but most of the boat’s key components are here. The next job, though, is to create a printed sheet for making a model (I hope to publish that very soon for those who are interested), and after that I’ll be adding coordinates. But now it’s time for bed. Keep on turning, big wide world…

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

Intheboatshed.net skiff progress

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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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