Centennial

[Daniel Noyes]

it begins... 1 1/4 inch pine bottom rough cut today.


lots of lost photos here so Ill just leave a few at the beginning to give a flavor of the progress of the build over a years time.

[jsjpd1]

Gonna sail her across the Atlantic, Daniel?

[skaraborgcraft]

Have you decided on ballast and lee-way prevention yet?

[wizbang 13]

Paint the bottom Blaze Orange.

[skaraborgcraft]

Paint the bottom Blaze Orange.

Does anyone offer anti-foul in that particular shade?

[Daniel Noyes]

Gonna sail her across the Atlantic, Daniel?

depends how I'm feeling on any given day-2months... nice knowing I could if I wanted

this boat should be very capable of 100+ mile days and long weekending to Province Town, Isle o Shoals or the coast of Maine

[Daniel Noyes]

Have you decided on ballast and lee-way prevention yet?

I will be building her fairly closely to the set up Johnson had, centerboard and iron ballast. I am considering putting some lead in the board.

[Daniel Noyes]

Paint the bottom Blaze Orange.

Blue Bottom, got to go with Johnson's paint scheme... Red White and Blue! How often do I get to paint a dory hull those colors and be Ok with it?

[amish rob]

Blue Bottom, got to go with Johnson's paint scheme... Red White and Blue! How often do I get to paint a dory hull those colors and be Ok with it?

Once every hundred years? Har har. This is gong to be a cool boat!

[Daniel Noyes]

Here are some shots of the Epic Original at Cape Anne Museum. http://www.capeannmuseum.org/

she's resting in good company, beside Blackburn's Great Republic

[amish rob]

That dude is one of my greatest heroes. Him and Aaron Ralston. Geesh. MEN!

[Daniel Noyes]

rough cut the bottom, planks planed to final thickness of 1 1/4 inches and edges jointed, next come the cross cleats then framing stock begins

bottom clamps (one in place) snugged up with a mallet and bottom clenched tightly!

[Daniel Noyes]

That dude is one of my greatest heroes. Him and Aaron Ralston. Geesh. MEN!

yup, I'm assuming youve read Blackburn's account of his ordeal on the banks, If you make it out to Massachusetts some day swing by the Historical Society a sort of Mecha of all things Blackburn... and don't forget a glass at the Tavern.

Johnson crossed in more temperate weather, but he had a stove on board which was essential for keeping the cabin and his clothes dry, the stoves radiant heat is excelent at evaporating moisture and the Draft is just what is needed to ensure a brisk exchange of air... without the use of a mechanical fan.

[skaraborgcraft]

I find it hard to imagine finding enough room on such a boat to carry a store of material to burn, was this his only means of cooking?

[Rich Jones]

Will there be any rocker n the bottom or is it totally flat? Are the planks beveled for caulking?

[amish rob]

Yeah, but Johnson cheated! He had fingers!

Seriously, I think of those guys when I feel weak. Hard to complain about things when you realize you could ALSO be missing all your fingers... Or your hand.

I am actually in the midst of a build that will allow me to take longer trips. The east coast has several spots I would love to investigate more. Shoot, there's just too much to see and do!
Next summer is the lower coast, so I can visit relations in Ky and go see KittyHawk. And Kill Devil Hills.
Next trip is more northerly. I'd really like to enter New York harbor under sail like my avu (grandpa), and wife's visava (great grandma).
Than again, the best laid plans, eh?
Peace,
Robert

[earling2]

This is a great project, really cool. Can't wait to see history come alive.

[Daniel Noyes]

I find it hard to imagine finding enough room on such a boat to carry a store of material to burn, was this his only means of cooking?

If memory serves his little stove could burn coal or wood, he also did not go more than a week at any time during the crossing with out hailing or offer to be rescued by some large trans Atlantic craft, They invariably kept his small craft well provisioned with what ever he needed including the finest in American and European spirits. Being a Gloucester man in a Banks dory he naturally had ample fishing tackle aboard along with stores of canned and dried food stuffs.

[Daniel Noyes]

Will there be any rocker n the bottom or is it totally flat? Are the planks beveled for caulking?

yes and no

Centennial seems to have had quite a bit of rocker originally, today she has very little due to age and detieoriation of her bottom and Garboards bottom edge. I'm going to bend 3 inches and see how it looks.Gardners offsets indicate close to four inches...

The bottom will be glued and clamped tight. the boat will be trailer sailed and while a dory is one of THE best hull types for that kind of use it is not an open boat and dampness in the cabin will be a bit of a buzz kill for weekend camping trips, I will finish the bottom and Garboard like we were when I was at Lowells Boat shop, with a layer of glass and epoxy on the bottom up to the garboard.
Centennials bottom is, if memory serves a 5 plank bottom I am using 7 unusually narrow planks to limit individual plank movement.

[Rich Jones]

I'm not familiar with dory construction, but how will you achieve 3"-4" of rocker? That's going to be a very stiff slab of wood once glued up.

[skaraborgcraft]

Are you really that comfortable glassing over planks that wide?

[wtarzia]

I had a Lowell dory with the bottom built like that -- no problems with it. I did have problems with some rot between plank-laps. The trailered boat never ever got a complete long soak, and the plank laps near the center of the boat did not tighten up much (they dribbl;ed water in later years when sailing heeled over). Also storage in a garage was a bad idea because, I am assuming, the drying time was extended so the wood between planks laps spent longer time in that fungal-growth stage than an air-and-roof stowed boat would have. I vowed not to own another lapstrake (real wood) boat unless I could let it stay in the water all season, or at least build it a "car port" style accomodation. But the sealed bottom, no problems (they laid on a quite thick layer of West epoxy, an eigth-inch at least on the inside bottom, and glassed on the outside. I believe the garboard was plywood in those days -- built 1984. I donated it to the shop (now nonprofit) for use as public row boat, and it was recently sold to a fellow happily using it). -- Wade

[skaraborgcraft]

I would be happy to just rip those exisisting planks down the centre for the time it would take and be less worried about expansion, but maybe i worry too much?

[Daniel Noyes]

I would be happy to just rip those exisisting planks down the centre for the time it would take and be less worried about expansion, but maybe i worry too much?

that's just what I did !... originally these bottom planks were 12 inches wide (any narrower and it would be a strip planked bottom). I will be using system 3 on the bottom, it is less brittle than the traditional West System. I've built 2 boats and worked on 5 more built like this it seems to work great, preserving much of the traditional construction technique while making for a very dry boat off the trailer.

[Daniel Noyes]

Bottom fit and clamped with dory clamps, cleats cut beveled and rivited in place with a clamp on either side, good tight fit all around, and saturated with a coat of Coperis Oxide this evening, also dragged the oak I have out of the sail loft... may need to get some more white oak...

[nedL]

A bit late now, but had you considered splining the bottom planks?
When I was growing up I was given a 'sailing banks dory' that probably dated to the '20's or so (given to me about 1975 or so and it was real old then). 16ft overall (kind of small for a banks type), the bottom planks were splined and it never leaked much in the spring. It was built with natural crook frames that overlapped each other on the bottom, and had a centerboard that was part of the original construction. Fun little boat, and not a bad sailer.
Here's the only picture I have of her.


I was given just the bare hull. For the sailing rig I bought a set of plans for a 17ft sailing Swampscott dory from Mystic Seaport and used the sailing rig dimensions from that. For the sails, I had been given an old cotton mainsail off an Alden Barnacle that I cut down for the main and jib. My boom had been a neighbors flag pole, that was rumored to be a boom off an ancient Lightning, and the mast was something I picked up somewhere. A real piecemeal setup, but a lot of fun.

[Daniel Noyes]

Nice little dory. I think many of us have a similar story, mine was a Chamberlain dory skiff. How did your banker sail? a built in centerboard is an unusual feature as is the splined bottom. I'm not sure that I have ever come across a splined bottom in a dory, but Im not sure that it would be something readily apparent at first glance.

all the dories I have built at local shops and builds I have done on my own have been glassed bottoms as this will be, or traditionally built, the bottom boards beveled 5 degrees across about half their thickness, cleated tight together then a wisper thin strand of calk driven hard into the bevel, this tighten the cleated bottom even more and made the boats water tight even when launched dry.

the bottom for centennial is the biggest I have built, that includes the Alpha dory I did. It is a heavy one at 3 ft wide and planking a whopping 1 1/4 inches thick. I cut the planking from 2x12 rough cut pine lumber!

[nedL]

I was pretty pleased with her sailing (but then again I was just a teenager looking to have a nice sail, never in a hurry to get anywhere). ............. And what could I expect from some stretched out re-cut ancient cotton sails anyway. lol. I sort of would like to still have her, she was unusual in a number of ways, all natural crook frames, the splined bottom, thole pins (three in each position so you could adjust the reach). I could never really figure her out. It didn't seem she was built as a 'yachty' thing, true traditional construction and finish (also iron clench nail fastened), but she was to small to be much of a working dory, and with a centerboard she couldn't have stacked. She was definitely old enough to have been for working (I always 'guessed' she dated to at least the 1920's, maybe older).

[Daniel Noyes]

got the transom rough cut and glued up today... 4' bottom to sheer, and 13" wide at the top... a nice big tomb stone.

[Daniel Noyes]

her bones are taking shape... Transom in middle ground.

[Daniel Noyes]

got a shot of the BBT (big beautiful tombstone) about half way to being ready to nail on the boat...

[Ober27]

I am really enjoying both of your threads on this build. I've been intrigued by the original Centennial every since I first learned of her several years ago.
I would be very interested in any construction details you're willing to share, including how you joined the pieces for the frames.
Thanks for taking the time to post updates as you build.

http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthre...t=#post4980230

[Daniel Noyes]

little more progress on this incredible little short ship! her she is with her timbers up!

[Rich Jones]

Were you able to get any rocker in the bottom?

[davebrown]

Really interesting build!