Boat in Progress

  A sail boat with one mast like the one in the photo is called "Cat Rigged".  These boats are easier for one person to sail and have a special place in many sailor's hearts, mine included. Many,many years ago I was crew on a small racing sail boat and have loved the look and the feel of sail boats ever since.

  For his birthday this year my Grandson asked Opa to make a sail boat.  Oma is making him a cake that looks like Titanic, before the iceberg and I am to make him a sail boat, that he can play with, in the bath tub.  I didn't want to make a boat that was too small and of course it can't be too big. The boat needed to be a good size for tubs, pools and days at the lake.  Not as easy as it sounds.

sail boat hull  with clamps holding the keel on

  I had to make the boat robust enough to stand serious play and it had to be sea worthy. In the process of making this hull I learned a couple of useful things.

  One, spruce is a really poor choice for this type of project, it tears out easily, the upper deck is cedar and way nicer to work with. Two, knots really suck, next hull, clear cedar all the way.

   I cut a channel in the bottom and put in lead weight for ballast. (I saw that done on "Paddle to the Sea")  Initially the hull was too chunky, it looked more like a motor boat than a sail boat so I put in some time with planes and my new favourite tool:

Mora Push Knife

  I picked this up on my recent trip to Sweden, it is from Mora Sweden.  This two handled knife works like a draw knife and comes very, very sharp right out of the package.  I used this knife for heavy stock removal before finishing the hull with planes and sand paper.

  The hull is currently drying, it is getting many coats of paint to make it seaworthy, and tomorrow I have to fit the mast and make the sail. I think that I will make some more boats, so that I can use the skills that I have been learning on this project.

  More photos to follow.