A practical Handbook and Boatshop assistant, designed and written to meet the needs of the builder, covering the complete process of wooden boat construction.
Boatbuilding gives detailed instructions, with many illustrations, on all phases of boatbuilding written out of actual boatbuilding practice.
Each chapter is organized for easy and quick reference, and the book is completely indexed. An added feature is the inclusion of building plans for nineteen boats designed for this book and suitable for amateur building.
If you are going to chose one book on Wooden Boat Building then this is it.
High speed video showing the building of a Bristol Cutter design classic sailing boat built by Mark Rolt at www.bristolclassicboat.co.uk The boat is due to be launched on May 22nd 2008 at Redcliffe Wharf in Bristol. The boat will be based in Salcombe in Devon where is will be used to teach sailing to underprivileged children.
Duration : 0:6:0
Except for an added radio, this crafted vintage vessel appears original. She would be quite a challenge for the experienced boat restorer, but I have not seen many wooden sport boats this size. This is another possibly for sale machine that I have been given the owners number to learn the details.
Duration : 0:1:21
This video was made by the students of 2nd High School of Chalkis and their teachers as a part of an E.U. educational programm called Lachesis.
It shows the role of traditional boatbuilding in Greece through time, and describes types of wooden boats and their construction at a local traditional boatyard.
The boatyard is stil active and continues building wooden boats at Chalkida.
Many thanks to Ioannis Kampouroglou boatyard, Chalkida – Greece
Duration : 0:10:32
The state of Maine has a long boat-building tradition. Ralph Stanley has spent most of his eighty years designing and buildings boats in the town of Southwest Harbor, Maine.
RALPH STANLEY: “Takes a lot of skill to work with wood, to build a boat out of wood. Those skills are something that have been acquired over thousands of years and passed on to people. And, if somebody doesnt keep on building out of wood, it will be lost.”
Stanley is retired from boat-building. But he worries that many builders are using materials like fiberglass to make copies of the boats hull, or body of a boat.
RALPH STANLEY: “Fiberglass came along and I thought about going into fiberglass. But if I did, I would have to have a mold and I could never change that mold. And every boat Ive built I see something I would like to change on the next one.”
Stanleys son Richard also builds boats. Richard Stanley says wood is able to take up the full energy of shocks. He says fiberglass is thicker and beats back the shocks.
Kerri Russell is head of Maine-Built Boats. The group provides support for the states boat building industry. She says many boat-builders have good reasons for using use fiberglass.
Russell worked for a company that makes boats with fiberglass. She says it strengthened the hulls, weighed less than wood, and required fewer repairs.
CUYLER MORRIS: “This boat sails away for three hundred eighty-five thousand dollars.”
Cuyler Morris is head of Morris Yachts, an award-winning builder of sail boats. Those boats sell for up to one million four hundred thousand dollars.
Morris says his company is always looking for the best materials and using them with the best design. He says usefulness is an important quality. Morris father started the company thirty-eight years ago. Morris Yachts now uses electrically-operated parts instead of hand-powered ones.
CUYLER MORRIS: “There are all sorts of things that have made boating easier, like this little jiffy sail cover here.”
A machine-powered sail cover protects the sail until it is needed.
Morris says the device is better than hand-powered winches. A winch is the name of a device used to open and close the sail. Kerri Russell says many boats are equipped with new technology because boat-builders want to increase sales among busy families.
Russell says technology is helpful for people who might not have time for traditional boats.
Cuyler Morris says something is special about boats built in Maine. He says Maine is all about quality — whether you want a small wooden rowboat or a super sailing yacht. People just do it the right way.
The recession has deeply affected Maines boat industry. But Morris is hopeful about the future.
CUYLER MORRIS: “Seventy-two percent of the world is covered with water. People are always going to boat. There is always going to be a demand for boats built in Maine because of quality, so Im really optimistic.”
The future is less clear for builders of wooden boats. Ralph Stanley now spends a lot of his time playing a fiddle made from the wood he long used to build boats. I’m Shirley Griffith.
Duration : 0:4:11
KINGSTON — A breeze off the Jones River wafts through the open door, swirling the dust and curled wood shavings covering the cement floor. The smell of wood — some weathered with age, some freshly cut — hangs thick in the warm air.
Smiling, his forehead beaded with sweat, Reuben Smith pops up from the belly of a 24-foot Fenwick Williams canoe yawl.
Somewhere amid the sawhorses, schematic drawings, handmade benches, tools and boxes of nails, a telephone rings.
“Your boat will be done by next Memorial Day!” Smith shouts toward the sound.
He laughs, but there is a kernel of truth to what he said. The owner of the Tumblehome Boatshop knows that the traditional restoration and building of boats is a long, slow, careful process.
Smith grew up in the Adirondacks. His father and uncle, whom Smith started working for at 15, were boat builders.
Smith, who now lives in Plympton, Smith began teaching classes in boat building at the Hull Lifesaving Museum in 1997.
Working out of an old diesel box truck, he would travel from town to town, plying his trade.
Smith said there are still a few little shops like his up and down the coast, as well as a handful of expert craftsmen to supply them with the tools and fittings they need. Together, they form a unique collective that is carrying on centuries-old traditions.
“All of us find identity through tradition. We’re bookish,” Smith said. “Artisans today have to be part scholar, part grunt. You have to go to libraries, museums So much about the techniques we use used to be common knowledge.”
There are power tools all around his shop, but Smith depends mainly on the original tools of the trade. He plucks a heavy black chisel from a workbench and carefully runs the blade along a raw plank. A wisp of wood falls to the floor.
The surface is as smooth as porcelain.
“This is my little buddy,” Smith said of the chisel. “You can’t find this anymore I found it at an antique store for $50 — a bargain.”
Sometimes he creates the tools he needs, relying on knowledge gained during hours of research, and on his own ingenuity.
In creating the frame for the hull of the 24-foot canoe yawl, Smith bolted together a wooden chain to make a form flexible enough to fit in the hull but rigid enough to hold a shape.
“It’s like a 14th-century tool,” he said, “but it works.”
And it’s “surprisingly fast” to boot. At least in this line of work.
“It got so I could do one in six hours,” Smith said. “I’d estimated eight to 10, so six is good.”
By KAREN GOULART
The Patriot Ledger
Video by Molly Trust
For The Patriot Ledger
Duration : 0:4:0
Portcarlingboats.com presents the preview for the 2006 boat show video, showcasing some local boat builders
Duration : 0:2:21
Jim Blaiklock, Boat Builder, talks about the 1974 and 2008 Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festivals
Duration : 0:5:56
News item covering the launch of 6 wooden boats built by students of the Boat Building Academy. Reproduced with permission of ITV Westcountry. See http://www.itvlocal.com/westcountry/?player=WCT_home_26
Duration : 0:2:53
Muskoka Wooden boat shop preview of 2007 wooden boats. Boats being built and finished.
Chris Craft Duke Greavette Ditchburn
Duration : 0:9:49
Live from London’s O2 Arena 2007
Duration : 0:5:11