By

M. E.
Daniels

Y OU CAN build this family-size, 16-

ft. skiff just as easily and inexpen-
sively as a flat-bottom rowboat. Yet it
has the wave-splitting, bump-smoothing
bow of a true semi-V, readily converts makes possible a finished hull that
to a sailboat and can be carried in a sta- weighs about 120 lbs.—light enough for
tion wagon! two people to carry.
And all of this is accomplished with- Total cost of materials for this boat
out any tricky plywood bends. The for- was just $80.
ward V-bottom contours are shaped Its resin-bonded seams never need
from Styrofoam with saw and rasp and caulking and small, 3- to 5-hp outboard
resorcinol-glued to a centerpiece. Then motors will push it along at 6 to 10 mph.
the job is skinned over with Dynel A Mercury 110 (10-hp) motor was used
bonded with epoxy. The result is not with the prototype and speeds in the 20-
only a smooth ride but built-in flotation mph range were achieved. The sailing
and a tough, armored hide where it version is simple to operate and adds an-
counts most when beaching the boat. other whole dimension to this attractive
The use of Weldwood resorcinol glue boat.
in all joints and seams boosts strength Let the lumberyard start the job for
enough to permit you to weight-trim you. For your side planking you need
framing parts in aircraft fashion and four 16-in.-wide strips ripped length-
wise from 1/4-in. exterior plywood pan- the wide ones run through the saw
els. Most yards have a panel-cutting rig to make them match the narrow
and can do this job easier than you can. ones.
There may be a nominal charge but if Assemble each joint dry (without
you give them your materials list first glue), using about five 1/2-in. #6 flat-
and tell them you're buying only if, you head brass screws on each side of the
get those ripping cuts free you'll prob- seam. Be sure you're making a left and
ably win. a right side—not two of a kind! After
One other tip on the materials: do a dry assembly, back out the screws, coat

FASTEN SIDES to stem, mid-irame, transom. AFTER CHINES are installed, flip hull,
Spot mid-frame 1/2 in. ahead of butt joint. bend forward bottom section into place.

little phone shopping in advance. The all mating surfaces with resorcinol resin
plywood planking for the original hull, glue and reassemble.
for example, was bought at a cash-and- Squeeze-out should be about even all
carry yard for $3 a panel, though prices around if the surfaces have been coated
elsewhere ran from 30 to 80 cents higher properly. Lack of squeeze-out means
per sheet. poor contact. Add extra screws where
No construction mold or form is re- this is apparent.
quired if you assemble the parts in the Cut the stem and glue up the midship
proper sequence. First, join the 8-ft. x frame and transom next. The frame and
16-in. side planking strips end-to-end transom can be tacked together lightly
with butt pieces 10-in. long cut from the with copper nails for dry assembly.
same thickness plywood. The butt Since only the back section of the
pieces don't extend all the way from stem is involved at this stage, it doesn't
edge to edge at the joint but stop 3/4-in. require glue. Unless you're in a rush it's
short of the bottom edge to allow space best to do the foregoing gluing the day
for the chine. (or night) before all-out construction
Incidentally, while still at the lumber begins. Leave the joints overnight at 70
yard make sure all your side planking degrees and they'll be good and solid in
strips are the same width. Because of the morning.
the thickness of the saw blade some may To plot the bow's up-curve, clamp or
be a trifle narrower than others. Have temporarily screw-fasten one of the
chines along the lower edge of one of the surface to allow some play), spring
the sides, setting the last clamp or screw the aft ends of the plywood sides inward
(from the stern end) just 4 ft. 3 in. from and screw them to the rim of the tran-
the bow end. Then spring the free por- som. The transom angle should be
tion of the chine upward so its bottom marked on the inner surfaces of the
edge is 7-1/4 in. from the bottom edge of sides beforehand. This entire assembly
the plywood and clamp or screw the is made dry and is easiest if the sides are
chine in this position. in inverted position.
Then draw a pencil line along the en- The chines are fitted in next along the
tire curved run of the chine's lower straight run of the hull and the upcurve
edge. This gives you the fair curve your at the bow, held by 3/4-in. #6 brass flat-
bottom planking will follow later— heads 18 in. to 24 in. apart. Space them
along the area where the foam contours closer only at points where chine and
will be. Use a saber saw to cut the ply- plywood fail to draw together snugly.
wood along this line after the chine has Once the chines are in, turn the as-
been removed. sembly right side up. Then fasten the
Actual hull assembly comes next. rubrails in place along the outside of the
Start by fastening the forward ends of planking at the top edge.
the plywood sides to the stem with a Check over the stem and transom
couple of 3/4-in. #6 brass flatheads on joints in case any plane-trimming is nec-
each side. Then set the mid-frame in essary (not likely). Also, measure the
place 1/2, in. forward of the midship butt diagonal distance from each transom
seam so the two screws you'll use on corner to the opposite planking mid-
each side won't go through the seam. frame joint. If these match to within 1/4
Use a scrap of 1/4-in. plywood under the in., that's good enough. If they're off by
midship frame to allow for a butt-joint more than that, use twine in crisscross
piece between bottom sections. pattern to pull them as required to
After the mid-frame is screwed in match.
place (with screwheads slightly above After this the parts are disassembled,
glue coated and reassembled. Turn the Like the side planking butt pieces, it
assembly bottom side up and wipe off should be 10 in. fore and aft. Plane-fit
the squeeze-out along the chine-plank- the ends to seat snugly against the inner
ing seam. Add screws where the surfaces of the chines.
squeeze-out is thin. When the butt piece is fitted, glue and
The bottom goes on next. Lay a panel screw it to the bottom edge of the mid-
of 1/4-in. plywood good side outward on frame, using three 3/4-in. #6 flatheads.
the forward section of the assembly. Then lay the forward bottom panel in
You'll find the forward end can be bent place and mark it where the glue is to
down easily along the bow's curved sec- go. Glue, assemble and tighten all to-
tion and fastened temporarily with a gether. Be sure to get a good seal across
1-1/2-in. roundhead steel screw into the the base of transom!
bottom of the stem. Put a washer under After the bottom panels are on, trim
the screwhead so it won't pull through. off the side and bottom planking at the
Bend the panel's midship end down transom angle and turn boat right side
and clamp it to the frame or fasten with up. Use a rounded stick to smooth the
a few 3/4-in. it 6 brass flatheads into the inner squeeze-out into the chine seams
chines. Add extras anywhere the seam to form a rounded fillet. You now have
shows a gap. Then mark the panel along a watertight hull. The original one
the outside of the planking on both reached this stage at the end of the first
sides. Butt the stern section's panel day's work.
against the forward one and follow the Begin the foam bow job by adding the
same procedure. Remove and cut with first section of the false stem. As the
a saber saw. drawing shows, this is beveled to the
Before you replace the bottom panels same angles as the stem already glued
for gluing, cut and fit the butt piece that in place but it comes out flush with the
runs across underneath the mid-frame. outer surface of the side planking. And
EFFICIENT but simple sail rig moves this
light hull along even in lightest breeze.

it extends all the way down to the full

16-in. depth of the hull.
It's glued to the original stem and also
held by a 2-in. galvanized screw (#12)
driven into it from inside the existing
stem. Once this false stem section is in
place, you can fit the skeg-like forward
section of keel behind it.
By holding this against the side plank-
ing along the up-curved section and
rocking it around the side planking
curve as you pencil-mark it, you can
draw a pretty accurate cutting line.
Allow a little waste at each end for
trimming.
Bore through the stem into the for-
ward end of [Continued ]

DETAILED PLANS
include additional details for sailing
rig and a Bill of Materials. To order,
send $5 to MI Plans Service, Fawcett
Bldg., Greenwich, Conn. 06830. Please
specify Station Wagon Skiff, Plan SW-
3-67.
 Station Wagon Skiff
[Continued
the keel piece for a 1/2 -in. dowel. Then glue
all meeting surfaces, glue in the dowel and
fasten the aft end of the keel piece to the
bottom planking with a flathead brass
screw. After this, you can turn the hull
right side up and drive more brass screws
down through the planking into the keel
piece.
The next section of false stem is glued
and screwed on with two 2-in. flathead
screws driven from front to back into the
preceding section. The final (point) section
of stem is glued and held by a couple of
finishing nails. Twisted wire through the
keel piece and around the whole business
helps tighten it up while the glue hardens.
After this, it's a good idea to turn the hull
over and fit in the rest of the frames and
the seats. All these are simply cut and
fitted on the spot and at the spacings indi-
cated in the drawing. The vertical side
members of the frames are planed to fit fair
against the planking.
If the trim-fitting causes some frames to
snug in place slightly forward or aft of
the prescribed spacing, don't worry about
it. The metal fastenings are just there for
clamping until the glue hardens, anyway.
But make sure you do a good glue job
all around. It's the stuff that gives your
boat its strength. Don't skimp on it and
definitely don't build this boat without it.
The foam bow job begins with half a
[Continued on next page]
 Station Wagon Skiff
standard log of Styrofoam. This is 4-1/2 ft.
long and approximately 22 in. wide by 7-1/2
in. thick with slightly convex surfaces.
Mark it to cut off a half-inch slice from each
convex edge so you'll have flat surfaces for
fitting. Then cut the resulting block
diagonally. You'll be using one of these
triangular pie-wedges on each side of the
forward keel piece.
The cutting is best done with either a
coarse rip saw or a narrow-blade buck saw.
The buck saw is best because it has less
blade surface to bind in the cut and it can
cut the curve where the foam fits against
the up-curve of the plywood hull.
It pays to do your cutting on the safe
side of the line, then trim to a final fit with
the rasp. You mark for the curve-cut in the
same manner that you marked the forward
keel piece. But mark with a red or blue
pencil. On foam it's difficult to tell a black
pencil line from an accidental dig or saw
scratch.
When the foam pie-wedges are fitted to
the bottom you can hold them in place by
hand while you shape them to the desired
bottom contours with saw and a Stanley
Surform tool.
You can use either resorcinol glue or
epoxy to stick the foam to the plywood. But
you should have ample leftovers from your
resorcinol gallon so it will pay to use that
at this stage. Then you can get by with only
a quart of epoxy.
Applying Dynel to the foam is the easiest
part of the whole project. This stuff has
such give that you can pull it over almost
any shape in sweater-girl fashion. Then
just staple it tight at about 2-in. spacing
along the edges. To bond it on forever,
merely brush, roll or squeeze the epoxy
through it.
There must be enough epoxy on the
Dynel to close its weave, however, because
oil paint should not get through to the
foam. Before painting, disk-sand the edges
of the bonded-on Dynel to fair them out
smooth with the plywood.
The final, full-length 3/4-in. x 3/4in. keel
strip and the skids are resorcinol-glued to
the hull—although you can epoxy the front
portion of the keel strip if you have any
epoxy left after the Dynel job. All the
strips also are fastened with brass screws. •