How to Construct a Simple Boat

Step 11 Sailing

I finally finished a sail for this boat. It's a small spritsail around 40sq feet.
http://www.instructables.com/id/The_Handsewn_Spritsl/

I put in a mast step and partner about 25 inches from the bow. The mast and sprit are both about 1 and 3/4 inches in diameter. I cut them out of a pine 2x4, they're both just under 9 feet in length. I made two small cleats for the main outhaul and the sheet, and one really small one that goes on the sprit to control the snotter. I don't have anything specifically for the brail line, for now I just run it back to the cleat for the sheet. I'll probablly make a side-mounted daggerboard just to keep things simple, but for now I made a curde daggerboard/leeboard out of waferboard. It'll help decide where the daggerboard will eventually go. For now I'm just using a paddle to steer with but I'm considering a rudder, we'll see.

Comments

[Zeppelinfreak]

What was your original mast made of?

[notjustsomeone]

As stated in the instructable the first mast, that broke, was cut and shaped out of a 2x4.

[Metalcaster14]

hmmm... good instructable but unless I missed it, it seems like you didn't give appropriate credit to D.C. Beard and his book. Pretty much anything novel from the boat came form the book. Especially the snotter. I've never heard of it outside of the American Boy's Handy Book. But any way you did a good job of putting it to a more modern context with more detail.

[dadadata]

See http://www.friend.ly.net/users/dadadata/short/sci_am/scow_1876.html.

If Dan Beard was "Paddlefast" then this was published in 1876.

P'fast then went on to describe other boats:

http://www.friend.ly.net/users/dadadata/short/sci_am/skiff_1876.html for example.

As for the "snotter," that predates Dan Beard by centuries. There are a dozen or so ways to rig a snotter. Not to be confused with skinning a cat.

[notjustsomeone]

That is undoubtably where I got the idea, I don't know if I reference it in the instructable, but I certainly did before constructing the little boat. If you liked the short section on simple boats from that book you should check out http://www.archive.org/details/boatbuildingboat00bear .

The American Boy's Handy Book is excelent and I think every young american boy should have a copy. Another author from about the same time period worth mentioning is A. Russell Bond. I think their work, along with many others, inspired an entire generation. I wish more current authors would encourage and motivate older children to use the simple skills and tools available to them to build purposeful things. For example I reciently bought a copy of "The Dangerous Book for Boys" by Conn and Hal Iggulden as a gift. I was rather dissapointed by it's concentration on "culture". It seemed to come off emphasizing observing rather than doing and leaving everything to someone older and more experienced. Anyway, I'm digressing, but do check out their work and by all means share it with your children.