batten seam construction

[ken connors]

hey all, i'm looking for my next boat plan. i've built a 13 ft lapstrake ply skiff, a cedar strip canoe and a 21 ft ply hull sailboat (Stevensons Vacationer). i'd like to take the next step and build what some would call a "real wooden boat". i'm looking at the Handy Billy which is described as "batten seam cedar over oak". i've heard the term batten seam plenty but never knew what it is exactly. anybody got any insights on this type of construction?

[Dave Gray]

Ken, batten-seam construction is where the plank seams are backed by a batten and the planks are most likely attached with screws to this light weight batten. According to Chapelle's "Boatbuilding", it is good for hulls subject to vibration such as lightly built power boats.

[mcdenny]

Most old Chris Crafts were built this way. Its also a tip off that you can't build the boat out of sheet plywood.

Wooden Boat had a long article on building the Handy Billy some years ago. If you can find that it will explain exactly what batten seam construction is.

[rbgarr]

Some dories are built with oak battens covering the fore and aft caulking seams on the bottom... but I don't think that would be called batten seam construction. I call it belt-and-suspenders boat building!

[WillW]

Batten seam construction was popular up north here, since boats are out of the water for extended periods of time. Batten seams prevent the boat from opening up when the wood dries out. It was not just for powerboats - I own an old Atkin sailboat that was built this way. The battens are let into the frames and the boat is carvel planked.

[Rick Starr]

As you may know, a few years ago WB did a 3part series on building the Handybilly 21 in this manner. The article was very well written and illustrated. If you haven't seen the series I recommend it--back issues are cheap from our host.

Good luck

[Chris Gerkin]

Ken are you taking good care of my harbor.

[Jim Budde]

See John Gardners' Dory Book , chapter 21 for a discussion of batten seam construction. Also see WB # 163 for Ed Davis' article on building his Chamberlain surf dory usung seam batten construction .. plywood is an acceptable planking material for such construction. Typically carvel but can be lapstarke.

[Brutus the sailor]

I went back into my magazine archive and am missing the issue with the planking on Handybilly. I have the one before on the framing and battens (which were oak). How did they do the seams on the cedar planking? Tight seam or caulked seam? Any modern goo used on the battens before screwing down?

John Gardner in the Dory book suggests epoxy gluing plywood planks onto the battens to make a stonger, leak proof boat. The plywood would move even less than the cedar as far as stability goes. I might be talked into using seam compounds so a damaged plank could be removed and repaired/replaced. All this is in light of a discussion of a chine type powerboat that would spend most of its time out of the water.

Brutus