Building a sailing skiff

[Vince Hoffmann]

Hello all! This is my first post here and I thought I'd share my current project.

I'm constructing a sailing skiff, 9'6" LOA, 14" freeboard, 4' beam. It's made from mahogony, fir, mahogony plywood and the sides, deck and bottom are made from Okoume plywood. It was impossible to find 10' sheets of marine grade mahogony plywood so the marine grade Okoume is what I had to use.

Here is where I've been posting my progress pictures...
http://groups.msn.com/ModelersAndHobbyForum/bigmodelboat.msnw

I just finished taping the seams around the chine and transom this morning. Once the epoxy cures, I'll take my sander and feather the edges, then give the hull 3 coats of epoxy before taking it off the jig.

This is my first boat and I'm having a lot of fun constructing it, but I'm a little concerned about the Okoume, does anyone have experiences with how well this wood holds up?

by the way, this boat is a "Clancy" which I will be naming PeeWee

[JimD]

Okoume is very popular for small boats such as yours, and kayaks, canoes, etc. It's an African wood, sometimes called Gabon Mahogany. It's lightweight, easy to work with, relatively affordable, and can come in very good marine grade quality (which is not to say that all of it is). It doesn't have especially great rot resistance but for but epoxied small boats that will probably spend more time out of the water than in, rot ought not be a problem. So it should be just fine.

Edited to add: And welcome to the forum, Vince!

[ 12-28-2005, 10:09 PM: Message edited by: JimD ]

[Garth Jones]

I agree with JimD. I chose occume plywood for my boat because it will be well sealed (epoxy/paint/varnish) and because it will spend most of its time on a trailer, no matter how much I want to be sailing. Sappelle and other mahogany marine plywoods have greater rot resistance, but are much heavier and more expensive.

If you'd like to see my boat, the Ness Yawl Goldberry, click here. (http://www.slaughterhousegallery.com/Ness%20Yawl/NYHome.htm)

[Vince Hoffmann]

Thanks for the information. I've been told that okoume is better than mahogony because it is denser, but have yet to fine anyone with first hand experience. I like working with it better than mahogony because the grain is tighter and it does not splinter as easy.

PeeWee will come off the jig this weekend, I'll post more pictures as they come.

[jimendel]

Looks like one hell of a nice boat, dude. You must have about the same amount of room I have for boatbuilding.. :rolleyes:

[Graham Knight]

I don't know who told you that Okoume is denser than Mahogany, but it's not!
An 8' x 4' sheet of 1/4" Okoume, for instance, is typically 2.5lbs-3lbs lighter than the equivalent sheet of "proper" Mahogany ply. Okoume is more open grained and will soak up more epoxy/varnish/paint etc... than Mahogany.

I wonder what the "easy splintering" Mahogany you're comparing it to is? I've always found proper Mahogany ply works very well, the only marine ply I've found that tends to splinter badly is Meranti which is rather brittle.

Having said this, with a boat like yours Okoume should be perfectly adequate provided you take care of it. In the long term, if you keep it that long, it'll probably require more maintenance than if it were made from a better quality Mahogany ply, but with a small boat like this we're not talking a lot of extra work.

I'm just finishing a clinker ply skiff built in Okoume, it's varnished inside and painted outside, I anticipate more frequent refinishing but for the weight saving (around 10lbs total) and substantial cost saving I think it's worth it.

[Vince Hoffmann]

Originally posted by Graham Knight:
I don't know who told you that Okoume is denser than Mahogany, but it's not!
An 8' x 4' sheet of 1/4" Okoume, for instance, is typically 2.5lbs-3lbs lighter than the equivalent sheet of "proper" Mahogany ply. Okoume is more open grained and will soak up more epoxy/varnish/paint etc... than Mahogany.
One of the guys up at Edensaw Woods where I purchased the Okoume said that it was preffered over Mahogony because of the charactoristics I described. Not that it matters any more. I definitely notice more splintering with the 1/4" mahogony ply, I wonder if I got a bad sheet?

Edit: I looked at the mahogony and it is stamped Meranti. This being my first experience with mahogony ply I'm learning first hand the differences between the various types of wood.

[ 01-01-2006, 02:18 PM: Message edited by: Vince Hoffmann ]

[Billy Bones]

Meranti is good stuff, but it is somewhat heavier and offers up wicked splinters sometimes. Also, Meranti usually has more plys than its okoume equivalent for the same thickness, meaning more glue, which is typically heavier than the wood it glues. Particle board is an extreme example of this.

Good luck

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Looks like a good job so far...

[ 01-01-2006, 06:31 PM: Message edited by: Peter Malcolm Jardine ]

[Graham Knight]

Edit: I looked at the mahogony and it is stamped Meranti. I thought that might be the case given your splintering experience, I think you'd have found true Mahogany ply much more pleasant to work with.
I much prefer Okoume ply to Meranti, it's nicer to work with and I feel a better quality product overall. I hate the look of varnished Meranti too, for me it's really only suitable where it's going to be painted or encapsulated.

[ 01-02-2006, 08:36 AM: Message edited by: Graham Knight ]

[Vince Hoffmann]

I've hit a milestone today, the hull is unjigged and I've formed and installed the bulkhead doublers and carlins. With all the rain we've been having here in northern CA, a water tight boat is a necessity smile.gif

http://groups.msn.com/ModelersAndHobbyForum/bigmodelboat.msnw

[ 01-02-2006, 09:30 PM: Message edited by: Vince Hoffmann ]

[Vince Hoffmann]

Filleting and taping is done. I'll be cutting and attaching the cutwater and rails today.
Look at page 2 for a couple of new pictures.

http://groups.msn.com/ModelersAndHobbyForum/bigmodelboat.msnw
(sorry for the link, I can't get images to show)

If everything goes right today, the last thing I do this evening is epoxy the interior before the deck goes on.

[Vince Hoffmann]

For those who are interested, the interior construction is nearly complete. Yesterday I cut the gunwales from mahogony and put the starboard one in place easily enough, but the port side snapped half way around. A bit of epoxy and clamps fixed it and this morning everything is in its place.

http://groups.msn.com/ModelersAndHobbyForum/bigmodelboat.msnw?Page=2

[brian.cunningham]

Nice seeing the jig, they're worth it. I would up building a jig to straighten out my plywood outriggers.

[Vince Hoffmann]

The Clancy is now complete! I set up the rig in front of my garage this afternoon and found no problems. I think next weekend will be her maiden sail! :D

sorry 'bout the links, I can't get picture links to work :(

http://groups.msn.com/M odelersAndHobbyForum/bigmodelboat.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=1011 (http://groups.msn.com/ModelersAndHobbyForum/bigmodelboat.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=1011)

http://groups.msn.com/M odelersAndHobbyForum/bigmodelboat.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=1012 (http://groups.msn.com/ModelersAndHobbyForum/bigmodelboat.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=1012)

http://groups.msn.com/M odelersAndHobbyForum/bigmodelboat.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=1013 (http://groups.msn.com/ModelersAndHobbyForum/bigmodelboat.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=1013)

http://groups.msn.com/M odelersAndHobbyForum/bigmodelboat.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=1014 (http://groups.msn.com/ModelersAndHobbyForum/bigmodelboat.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=1014)

http://groups.msn.com/M odelersAndHobbyForum/bigmodelboat.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=1015 (http://groups.msn.com/ModelersAndHobbyForum/bigmodelboat.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=1015)

[ 03-05-2006, 12:55 AM: Message edited by: Vince Hoffmann ]