A Fly-fishing Boat for Fred

[Charlie43]

Below is kinda, sorta what Fred's yet to be drawn and lofted, yet to be built boat will look like--
an uncluttered, easily-rowed, flat-bottomed, car-toppable pram meant to be a fly-casting platform with high initial stability.





Right now, Fred is cleaning out his garage, which will be our building space. As soon as that happens, we'll set up a pair of saw horses, throw some 2"x4"x8's across them, and then use his sheet of 9mm 1088 as our lofting table. The actual design work will be done by me using Gregg Carlson's HULLS Program, (Linked below) which makes it easy to calculate displacement and to produce cutting patterns, but doesn't obviate the need to create full-sized construction drawings (from which frame angles and bevels can be picked up).

At this point, my intention is to produce a design for him that uses the 'Salt Bay' construction method, meaning an external chine and jigless assembly, but with three full frames rather than the SB's two plus some useless cleats where a third frame should be. Whether the bottom is cut from the lofting table as a single piece without scarfs is yet to be be decided, as is the boat's beam and length. The sides, bow, and transom will be 6mm, and all framing will be done with cedar.  Fastening will be done with epoxy and screws. Likely, Fred will paint the boat rather than finish it bright. The boat will lack a mid thwart, because Fred wants to use a stadium-style seat for back support, and there'll be no fdw or aft thwarts, because this is intended to be a single-user boat. Other changes from how a Salt Bay Skiff is typically built will be a fully scuppered gunnel, doubled skegs, and a mid-plank rubbing strip.

Once the garage is cleaned out, I'll document the built. Intended completion date is in time to display the boat at this year's January Boat Show.

https://carlsondesign.com/hull-designer/