~Introducing the Lumberyard Skiff~

Text and Plans by Maynard Bray Illustrations by John Hartman

Agraceful shape, dead-simple construction, faces (no cupping tolerated) and should be kiln-and easily available materials make the dried so they won’t cup later on. You’ll pay $2 or $3 Lumberyard Skiff an ideal project for first- or more per board foot, but there’s almost no waste. time boatbuilders. The swept-up stern makes possi- Keep those boards out of the weather until you’re ble a dry-shod landing on a sloping shore, keeps ready to use them. Laid on the grass even for a few passenger weight nearer the middle of the boat, and hours in hot sunshine, they’ll cup, so let the air get as we’ll see in subsequent installments, provides to both faces equally. a place for the rudder (yes, there’ll be a sailing You’ll no doubt have questions as you build your version) or the power head of an electric trolling Lumberyard Skiff. You can ask these by mailing a motor. Because there’s no plywood, there’s mini- letter to Lumberyard Skiff, WoodenBoat Publica-mum waste and maximum enjoyment with edge tions, P.O. Box 78, Brooklin, ME 04616, or by visiting tools. Shaping and planing good quality white pine the www.GettingStartedinBoats.com. We’ll host an or soft cedar is joyous by comparison with plywood. online forum at the Getting Started web site—

Getting the four pine planks for the sides will and we’ll post photographs of completed boats and take some fussing. Chances are you’ll have to pick show additional details—such as a sailing rig and a over your lumberyard’s pile of 16' 1 10s to find trolling motor. suitable pieces. They have to be nearly free of knots We’ll begin construction by gluing up the so they’ll bend without breaking, and straight along 20"-wide sideboards from two 10" pieces of pine— their edges so they can be glued together just as plus a small block of pine to add extra width where you get them. The planks have to be flat across their needed at the bow.

Getting Started in Boats (ISNN pending) is published twice a year in 2006: June and October, in Brooklin, Maine, by WoodenBoat Publications, Inc. Jonathan A. Wilson, Chairman. Copyright 2006 by WoodenBoat Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or reproduced without written permission from the publisher.

WoodenBoat Publications, Inc. • P.O. Box 78 (41 WoodenBoat Lane) • Brooklin, ME 04616 Tel. 207–359–4651 • www.GettingStartedinBoats.com •