captainbob

Very good it almost makes me want to make a cross section. Bob

Ah, She looks good with her sail up and the work space full of lobsta pots. Bob

Sorry you're not going to be around. I wanted advice on the dory. Come back soon. We need you. Bob

]It’s amazing what you learn when you build a boat the way they were actually built. I had always wondered why lap strake. It seems like a difficult way to build a boat. But then I decided to build a dory and guess what, they were lap strake built. The building taught me why. The planks of a dory were only 5/8” thick, and the only way to get enough surface area between planks and provide a good seal is to put matching angles on planks so that instead of 5/8” surface you end up with about 1½”. Here is the dory hull, still a long way to go. Bob

Elia, I saw you lovely schooner the other day and was wondering how many dories she would have. My dory for the Spray was 1:48. Thay're a fun build. Bob

Russ, At the start you say, "the entire model is treenailed." Did you use any glue at all? Bob

Thanks, John.

Please do. It's your log.

Nice build on the Gothenborg, Popeye. A lot different than the M&M and the Lobster twins. Bob

Augie, Mark, Thanks for stopping by. Bob

Looking at those black and white pictures, the ropes are draped and running all over the place. I would love to make a boat look like that but the threads I use at 1:48 scale are too stiff. Any suggestions? Bob

This looks interesting. I'm going to follow this one. Bob

Hi Pete, Your dory is well done. Glad to have another scratch builder aboard. Michael, Glad you found me. Bob

As part of my last build, Joshua Slocum’s Spray, I built a dory and then cut it in half because he used half a dory as his “ship’s boat”. I thought at the time a complete dory would be fun to build. So, now, how were the old Grand Banks dories built? My research showed that during the 1880’s-1890’s the dory was built by the thousands, and was probably the first boat to be mass produced. Each fishing schooner that went out carried as many dories and fishermen on board as it could. This got me thinking. The ship owners would be looking for the lowest price and the dory builders would be building as simply as possible to lower their cost. The modern dory is a different boat. The modern dory is long pieces of plywood and a few frames. They have little rocker to almost flat on the bottom, and the chine strake is large at the ends and narrow in the middle. This wastes wood and is something the dory builders of old would not have wanted to do. The written descriptions and pictures of the old dories show a boat with a deep rocker to the bottom and the chine plank is straight from bow to stern. The old dory should be a simple boat to build. Now to this build. Let’s have fun. I will make the planks equal in width and straight from end to end and we will see what happens. The half frame is a great advantage to mass production. Several half frames can be made in advance and adjusted to fit at time of assembly. I made the half frames at 120 degrees. Dories are made with lap strake construction. The brass mounted on the angle prevents the angle from changing during sanding. The brass is also mounted slightly above the angle to leave about .010” on the edge of the plank. I did not know how much rocker there would be in the bottom so I could not mount the frames on a building board before mounting the chine strake.

I have an old scroll saw that uses 3" blades, like they all used to. Who still sells 3" blades? Bob

John, Nice to see some new pictures. She's looking good. Sorry about the missing parts. Maybe you need to put up a fence. Bob

Popeye, Seems to me that you're having way too much fun in this building. . . Wait . . . Having fun is what it's all about . . . Never mind. Bob

Looking good, Popeye. Next sail and rigging. Then we go sailing. Bob

Dee Dee, The smack is a nice boat and your build is comming along fine. Bob

Ah Yes, "que sera sera" I should add that to my signature line.

Mario, That's less than 25%, you're dooing good. Bob

The lobster boat sisters, America and the Gothenborg. Is that it? I thought there was another. Ah well, that’s way more than I can handle. Great work on all of them. Bob

What more can be said. Beautiful deck. Bob

As always your detailing is great. Bob

I miss a few days and you just keep forging ahead. All I can do is watch in wonder. Bob