Herreshoff Yacht Tender Build

[ptscho]

I am 600 hours into building a Herreshoff yacht tender that I started in July 2018 and I'm finally starting a building thread. You may have seen me around here asking one off questions, but it's high time I shared a bit more. Plus, at this point I have too many questions to not get over my intimidation of posting a building thread here.

Let's get started...

I wanted to build a boat for about two years before I actually started. In spring 2018 I did some work on a family members dinghy and convinced myself that if I could make a couple thwarts then I could learn how to build a boat. With very little information, I chose the Herreshoff dinghy because I knew I wanted to do a traditional build, I trusted the Herreshoff name, I liked the Rhode Island connection, and frankly, I liked the look of it.

In July 2018, I started painting sheets of underlayment white and my family thought I was crazy. By September, the boat was lofted in full and I was creating molds.

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[ptscho]

Eventually, the molds went up on a strongback

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[ptscho]

Umm...anyone know why these pictures are coming out sideways? They show up correctly on my computer.

[Hugh MacD]

If your media player on your computer automatically rotates the images for you they'll come up "as shot" here. Try opening them with a photo editor, rotating them to the correct orientation and re-saving them. Nice work so far! Looking forward to the rest of the build any way the pictures come in

[hawkeye54]

The wood in your strongback and molds looks great ! Did you source it from a local lumber yard ? A good start here on your build thread, thanks for posting.




Rick

[willin woodworks]

Looking like textbook boat building so far. Good work. More pics....

[swoody126]

set-up LOOKING NICE !

when up-loads from my photo album come up sideways i click/hold n drag the intended pics onto my desktop(beside my work screen)

once there i open them from the desktop and rotate them thru a full 360º then stop when they look like i want them to show in a forum thread

when i close them back to icon size the computer asks me if i want to save the changes and i click "yes"

once that process has been done i upload pics from the desktop not from my photo album

i don't have a clue as to why my pics try to load wonky and since finding this method that works i don't really care(i aint no 'puter guru)

btw, my work screen size is reduced slightly so i can utilize the desktop space beside my work screen while being able to see what i'm doing w/o having to constantly minimize/maximize while generating a post/reply

sw

[Rich Jones]

Looking forward to seeing what's next. Molds look perfect.

[johngsandusky]

Beautiful! I'm excited to see this progress. My first lessons in boatbuilding were from Building The Herreschof Dinghy. I did not build one, I was too young and too broke. But I read that pamphlet over and over until it all made sense.

[Jay Greer]

As well done as if you have been doing it for a long long time and earning a boat builders wages!
Jay

[ptscho]

The wood in your strongback and molds looks great ! Did you source it from a local lumber yard ?

It's actually from my local big orange box store. But don't worry, all the lumber actually going into the boat is from local lumberyards (well, local to NE at least).

[ptscho]

Appreciate the kind words everyone! Hopefully I can live up to them as I share the rest of the build (though I know of several issues already that will challenge them).

Onwards...

I glued up a transom blank from quartered white oak and gflex:
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Then I cut to shape based on the lofting and put a jig on the strongback behind station 8 to hold it at the correct angle:

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[ptscho]

Then I milled up some 1/8" white oak laminates to make up the inner stem. The jig was made based on the lofted stem.
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I transferred the bearding and rabbet lines off the lofting and started to rough out the bevels:
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A power plane and block plane brought things closer to the lines to leave room for final tune ups while planking
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[Hugh MacD]

Very Nice! Did you have much springback on the stem? I'm assuming that's all glued with G-Flex? How thick is each lam?

[ptscho]

Very Nice! Did you have much springback on the stem? I'm assuming that's all glued with G-Flex? How thick is each lam?

Each lam was 1/8" thick and all glued with G-Flex. If I recall correctly it was 15 laminates in total, and there was no springback that I could detect by eye when I took it off the form.

[signalcharlie]

Looks great! Anywhere close to Bristol to drop by the Herreshoff Museum, take a few notes, get a few ideas? I was by there in September, beautiful boats.

Trip Report

[Michael_Owen]

Following with interest. I've looked closely at this design as a possible gateway into trad. construction.

Let me know if you need any help with turning her over. I'm close by.

Mike

[ptscho]

Next up, steam bending the keel.

This was by far the hardest part of this project so far. Not because there's anything inherently hard about steam bending, but because I made some other mistakes along the way. I wound up attempting to bend four keels in total. All keels were 1 3/8" thick white oak. At first, I decided to bend over a jig (2x4 blocks screwed to plywood) instead of over the molds. This being my first time bending wood, I didn't know how much force was required and was concerned about whether the molds could handle it. More on this later.

The first piece of keel stock was air dried and the grain failed in tension. The second was kiln dried*, and reallyyyyy failed in tension. The third attempt was from green wood, and it bent wonderfully. When I took #3 off my bending jig, it was the wrong shape - overbent. I went back and forth between the lofting floor and the molds trying to figure out why. I eventually made a template of the aft end of the keel from the lofting. When I held the template to the molds I saw my problem - the lofting was off. When lofting, I must have put a nail down well past the end of the transom in trying to create a fair curve for the keel. This created a curve with a tighter radius than it should have had, and was probably the reason for the the grain failure in at least the first keel.

The fourth and final keel I finally got right. I temporarily beefed up mold 7 where the greatest force would be and bent some green stock directly over the the molds. Everything came out just right, minus a small bow that later developed in the wood because it was green. After this much frustration, I could live with and compensate for that.

It was an expensive and frustrating lesson to learn, but I suppose I'm better off for it.

TLDR - Don't put a nail in your lofting batten beyond the ends of the boat - it will most likely produce the wrong curve.

*Yes, I had plenty of information telling me not to bother with kiln dried wood. But I was impatient. I sought out sources telling me it could work and found enough to convince myself. Let that be a bigger life lesson - you can find information to back up pretty much anything, but that doesn't mean it's right.


Pictures
Steam box setup - a small decommissioned keg with a pipe flange screwed to the top, automotive radiator hose attached to the flange, a propane burner, and a box of cheap pine with dowels set into it
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Keel #1 grain failure
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Bending jig (set to the wrong curve, with keel #3 in it)
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Final keel bent over the molds (more on joining the backbone as shown here in a later post)
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[signalcharlie]

I'm not sure why photos load rotated either. I rotated the first few so we can admire your craftiness. As mentioned above, I save the image to my desktop, open it, rotate it, save changes, then upload rotated/saved image.

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[signalcharlie]

I am not educated on that particular tender. Do you have a link to the plans you are using? Might be fun to buy a set and follow along.

Also a photo of the boat?

Thanks for sharing the progress!

[Jim Ledger]

That's going to be a lovely boat and your work looks excellent. I'm impressed you redid the keel four times, it indicates a determined and discriminating character which is a most useful quality when building a boat.

Keep doing what you're doing.

Jim

[Rich Jones]

Nice going!
On your steam generator, I don't see a way to add water while you're steaming.
When you do your ribs, that thing will be cooking away for quite a while and need refilling.
Here's how I set mine up. Found this in a book somewhere, so it's no genius on my part.
There is one pipe coming out of the top for steam and another for filling. The filler pipe extends to within 6" of the bottom. When the water boils down to below that pipe and steam starts coming out, that's when you know it's time to add more water through the top of the pipe. I usually pre-boil that water on the stove before adding.

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[Jay Greer]

"Ptscho", Aside from the fine job you are doing with the construction of this little Herreshoff gem, I would like to ask a couple of,
restectful, questions. I, will say, that I agree that there is a need for a simple refill on your steam tank providing you can do it without much fuss! Also, you might consider tipping the loading end of the steam box up higher than the loading end so that the water from the condensed steam can drain. I do like the cross supports for the bending stock that you made of cross doweling as well to keep the stock in the steam rather than saturating it with hot water. That simple weighted door hung on a canvas hinge is all that is needed for the feeding and unloading end and the steam rig looks like a very traditional one.

I for one would like to know, that of the very many Herreshoff designs that exist, whether this is an Nathaniel or an L. Francis boat and what number it is? While I am familiar with most Herreshoff designs, the boat you are building reminds me more of a sailing dingy than a tender. The 12 1/2 comes to mind but, unless it is camera lens distortion, from what I see, I think it is not a 12 1/2. Just a small point but I think we all would like to know the number of and the designer, father or son, of this work of art you are constructing.

And, one other thing is that your mystery name of "putscho" seems a little distant for some us to relate to. So should, you would like to give us a first name, I think we all would feel a bit more comfortable with your nice Herreshoff mystery project?

Fair Winds,
Jay Greer

[ptscho]

I rotated the first few so we can admire your craftiness.

Thanks signalcharlie!

[ptscho]

Do you have a link to the plans you are using? Also a photo of the boat? !

You can buy them from Mystic Seaport (which is where the original boat is), but the plans are also in the back of this book which is much cheaper to buy used here: https://www.amazon.com/Building-Herr...331/ref=sr_1_1

https://www.woodenboat.com/sites/def..._side_view.jpg

[ptscho]

Anywhere close to Bristol to drop by the Herreshoff Museum, take a few notes, get a few ideas?

Actually I am - about a half hour away. I remember going as a young kid but that was at least 15 years ago. I'm definitely going to swing by as I start to move on to the interior and finishing elements of the boat. Visiting will certainly make some of those decisions easier!

[ptscho]

Let me know if you need any help with turning her over. I'm close by.

Mike

Thanks for the offer Mike! The hull is actually already flipped, I'm just catching everyone up one here. Always good to know a fellow boatbuilder in the area though. I'm likewise happy to lend a hand with things like that on your projects in the future too!

[ptscho]

re: Rich and Jay on steam setup - For refilling the keg mid steam, I've been pre-boiling extra water, popping the hose loose, and pouring the water in through a funnel. Not perfect, but it only interrupts the flow of steam for about 30 seconds. I may add that second spout in the future to make refilling even easier.

Rich - In your setup, what prevents the filler pipe from giving off steam before the water level falls below it? I would think the water inside the filler pipe would also give off steam as the whole pot boils.

Jay - The picture doesn't show it very well, but that driveway I'm set up on has a steep enough incline that the steam flows forward nicely, and the condensation flows backwards and out a small (~3/16") hole in the rear of the box. In that picture you'll notice a wet area on the ground below the box where the condensation has dripped out. You can also see the condensation puddle has flowed down the driveway away from the box.

[ptscho]

Jay - name's Paul - nice to meet you. ptscho is my initials and the start of my last name.

I'm away from the shop for the next week or so, but when I get back I'll happily post the design info. What I can tell you now though is that your eye is right - it is not a 12 1/2 and it is a sailing dinghy, one that was used as a tender on Herreshoff's Columbia. I'll be making it without the sailing rig, at least to start, since I don't know how to sail and plan mostly to row it. I may take some sailing courses next summer though and change my mind about that.

[Jay Greer]

Paul, like wise, it is, indeed, a pleasure to meet you! I am very gratified that you are taking the time to give this fine Herreshoff Dinghy the craftsmanship it deserves! In this age of plywood and epoxy, it is really nice to meet one who takes the time to do the job right!
I do think an easier fill line for the water tank will make your work faster and more enjoyable down the road.

Sailing a fine boat such as that would be a real joy! Once bitten you will be, forever, filled with the magic spell of Herrehoff! You might even need someone with a grapnel to keep you out of the boat for meal time!

Reaching Winds and following seas,
Jay

[Rich Jones]

re: Rich and Jay on steam setup - For refilling the keg mid steam, I've been pre-boiling extra water, popping the hose loose, and pouring the water in through a funnel. Not perfect, but it only interrupts the flow of steam for about 30 seconds. I may add that second spout in the future to make refilling even easier.

Rich - In your setup, what prevents the filler pipe from giving off steam before the water level falls below it? I would think the water inside the filler pipe would also give off steam as the whole pot boils.

Jay - The picture doesn't show it very well, but that driveway I'm set up on has a steep enough incline that the steam flows forward nicely, and the condensation flows backwards and out a small (~3/16") hole in the rear of the box. In that picture you'll notice a wet area on the ground below the box where the condensation has dripped out. You can also see the condensation puddle has flowed down the driveway away from the box.

The filler pipe might give off a wee bit of steam but really blasts it out when the water level drops below the pipe.

[Jay Greer]

Paul, I am chuckling to myself because of the small bit of glued on wood at the base of your transom that is of a different grain pattern and color. When we did the transom for "Vapor" we had a similar situation and proceeded to use mismatched wood below the water line.
This was because we assumed that the owner would not mind because the bottom paint would cover it. Oh dratt! He saw it, we explained the reason why that small amount of wood did not match the transom above the water line. But, the owner explained to us that the boat would not be left in the water and would be hoisted on its trailer after every use. So, wi had to build a new transom with matched grain stock. So that old adage of, "Never assume anything!" really is true!
Jay

[Jay Greer]

Yes we did consider that Gib but the owner was a very savvy guy as well as a personal friend! This was a job that where compromise was not acceptable! Every thing that was done was done as good as it was before or since master boat builder Ed Louchard was doing the work and we had the best of the best doing some things that were even better than Herreshoff had done! As an example,
the hull is book match double planked with full length African Mahogany set in G/Flex with no fastenings showing in the outer planking as there are none piercing the outer skin!

Please, let us stay with Paul's boat here, as I don't wish to hi-jack his thread.
Jay

[ptscho]

Time to join the backbone together.

I made a transom knee and skeg out of white oak that had roughly the right curves in the grain. I cut a notch in the keel up to the rabbet to accept the transom, and then it was time to join the pieces.



I started by boring a hole through the skeg. Once I verified that the hole was straight and dead centered, I clamped the skeg to the keel and and continued boring upwards through the keel (basically using the hole in the skeg as a guide). Rinse and repeat to bore up through the transom knee.

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Unfortunately, I don't have many other good photos of this process, but I will show the end result.


I cut some threads into 1/4" bronze rod and bolted it together. Driving a few #10 bronze screws from skeg to keel and transom knee to keel finished that bit off. A few more #10's attached the transom..

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I unassembled, doused all the holes with cuprinol, and reassembled with polysulfide bedding (and some cotton caulking underneath the bolt washers).


The stem got the same treatment. Cut a notch in the the stem to accept the keel at the rabbet, tune up the fit, bore a couple 1/4" bolt holes, and assemble as above.

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Just for fun, I took it off the molds to see what it looked like.

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[Jay Greer]

Very Fair!
Jay