Plywood Stitch & Glue Sailing Dinghy

This was my first boat build. I do not recall the designer or the type of boat. I ordered the plans off of a website but had no idea what I was doing. Other than being a competent carpenter, I had zero knowledge of boat building. Still, I managed to complete this build in about four weekends in my free time. I do remember this being an incredibly fun build project, and I couldn’t wait to get to work every Saturday.

Year
2017

Client
Me

Here, I am lofting the lines of the panel cuts onto the 5mm plywood.

The first few cuts after lofting the lines onto 5mm plywood.

Here, I drill holes for the stitches and apply tight metal wire to hold the panels together.

Metal stitches keep all the panels tight and allow easy thickened epoxy application.

After the boat was stitched nice and tight, I applied thickened epoxy, removed the stitches, and filled in all the holes.

Here, she is ready for some fiberglass tape inside and outside, then some paint.

I fitted gunwales to assist in carrying and dragging.

Here, I attached some runners to avoid gouges while beaching and a skeg to help the boat track better.

Here I am scavenging parts from an old sailboat I found ditched on the side of the road in CA (they are everywhere). The mast was sheared off at the spreaders, but the jib fit perfectly as a mainsail. I attached a pole to give the boom standoff from my head.

Here, I custom-cut some stainless steel chainplates and fit turnbuckles.

I am getting all the floorboards cut to length and ready for stain and varnish.

Here I am installing the seats.

All her panels were installed, stained, and Varnished.

On her “found” trailer ready for action.

Here she is on her maiden voyage. Unfortunately, there is no wind. Here, you can see my homemade tarp jib.