Nov. 14, 1898. 
FOREST AND STREAM 
S96 
I attempted to calculate also the center of gravity of the 
hull and spars, but the task was too much for me, and I had 
to content myself with locating the iron ballast in such a 
way that its .center of gravity would he directly under the 
C. B. ;this gave exactly the right fore and-aft trim when 
she was launched. , 
About the various problems of construction and size of 
timbers I felt so much in doubt that I asain applied to Mr. 
Stephens for advice; without his full and careful direc<ions 
I am sure that I should have fallen into error. As to rig 
and deck plan there is nothing unusual about the boat. Two 
jibs were chosen rather than the siogle jib, not because of 
fashion, English or American, but because it saves reefing; 
a rig that is largely used by fishermen is sure to have practi- 
cal advantages. The floor of the watertight cockpit is 14in. 
below the deck and the space under this floor is ample for a 
wide berth. The two other bunks are 20in wide and 7ft. 
long. The seats are made bv setting the coaming back on 
deck about 15in. from the cockpit. The headroom is about 
4ft. Sin. and there is a large space for storage. 
The boat was built at Pemaquid Point, Maine, during the 
summers of 1895 and 1896. The distance of this place from 
Boston, Portland and Bath, whence the materials were to be 
ordered, made it necessary to provide more than enough of 
everything and somewhat increased the expense and trouble. 
I had, for example, nearly enough planking left to cover 
another boat, and nails enough to buiJd a schooner. Of 
oak, on the other hand, I had no piece left large enough for 
a tiller and scarcely for an extra cleat... I had a shed put up 
beforehand — which paid for itself ten times over in con- 
venience and saving of time— and I built a long bench 
against one side. It had been my hope that I could do all 
the work myself, but the first lesson I learned was that the 
building of even an 18ft. boat is a long operation. It took 
me, 1 think, a week to shape the keel and cut the rabbet, 
and a whole day to fit the sternpost to the keel. This was 
partly because of my inexperience, but the heavier work 
would be slow even for a good workman. I remember one 
day when everything worked beautifully and I put up three 
pairs of frames and fastened them to the keel and floors. 
I have always worked at cabinet making as a recreation 
and I enjoy hard manual labor as a change from my ordinary 
occupation, which is sedentary and bookish, but with my 
best efforts I seemed to advance very slowly. 1 wonder how 
many of my readers have ever bored a l^in. hole through 
20in. of tough oak or a iin. hole through 38in. My equip- 
ment of tools was sufficient in most respects, but the bits 
and augers were poor arid my muscles not yet hardened, and 
I think I spent half a day on some of the longer holes. 
A fortnight's experience and a little calculation showed 
me that I must have help if the boat was to be finished 
within two summers, and eventually I had two men work- 
ing with me. One was a very skillful carpenter, but with 
no knowledge of boat building; the other, though he was not 
a trained boat builder, had built some small boats and was a 
man of great natural ingennity. During the first summer I 
was at work about six weeks, one man about four and the 
other two; with this work we set up the frame and planked 
her. The spars and rudder were made during the winter of 
1895-6, and the caulking done early in the spring. With 
this start we began work July 20 and launched her Aug. 19. 
I suppose this would seem very slow work to a professional 
builder; to me it seemed very hard work. 
As to the other side of building, the art of setting up a 
frame and fitting planking, I found that much easier than I 
had anticipated. There is no real difliculty in getting the 
frames right by the help of a line from sternpost to stem 
piece and the use of a spirit level, if one has an accurate 
full-sized drawing. The taking of a spiling can be learned 
from Stephens's book, "Canoe and Boat Building for Ama- 
teurs," and is really simple if one is patient and determined 
to be accurate. The planking, except the oak garboards, 
bent without difflculty. 
It is true that one of my helpers had some experience, 
which was of great value to us, and it is true also that we 
had to do a good deal of thinking and planning, but that is 
a part of the pleasure, and I think I may fairly say, as the 
second lesson of my experience, that the art and mystery 
of boat building is a very easy art and a very small mystery. 
If I had the thing to do over again I should get some instruc- 
tion from the nearest boat builder, paying him for the privi- 
lege of asking questions. I should watch carefully the 
plumbing of the keel, the setting up of frames, and the mark- 
ing out and cutting of planking, but I should pay even more 
attention to the boring for rivets and bolts and the driving 
and heading up. Especially I should want to understand 
thoroughly the use of mechanical appliances like wedges 
and clamps for bending the pieces and holding them in place 
for fastening. Then I should practice with some odd pieces 
of stuff until I could clinch a nail and head a rivet 
Perhaps 1 am too sanguine and underestimate the diffi- 
culties, but I am sure that the three of us together knew 
less when we began than one trained workman, yet we did 
not split a plank or spoil a timber, or find ourselves obliged 
to undo or patch up a single piece of work except a place in 
the deck where three or four strips had to be taken up in 
Older to plane out a lump, and I think the boat has a very 
neat and well- finished look. 
I ought not to forget our difficulties with varnish and glue. 
The "Directions for Use" sent with such things are always 
inadequate— sometimes absurdly so— and our varnish ran 
very badly in the first rain. I do not know the reason, but 
I suppose we put it on wrongly. As to the glue, which we 
used for the deck seams, the directions told us many interest- 
ing things which we did not want to know, but we were 
obliged to invent a number of ingenious ways of pouring it 
none of which worked— before we found out that it made no 
difference how much we spilled over the seams, because the 
warm glue could be cut off with a chisel and melted again 
;^To an observer with an eye for boats it is pleasant to 
notice how frequently local types have survived or have been 
worked out m different places. The Block Island double- 
ender, the Connecticut Eiver boat, the New Haven sharpie 
are proof that we are not yet reduced to a dead level of 
monotony. The Pemaquid type is an able boat of about 
three beams to the over-all length, usually a centerboard 
and about as long on the keel as on deck. ' 
To men who knew no other type, and who were accus- 
tomed to judge a boat by length and beam on deck, and by 
length of keel, my boat was a strange experiment; all the 
stranger and more doubtful because she was planned by a 
man whose business is rather distantly removed from boat- 
building. She was inspected with many shakes of the head 
—even with much wagging of the head— by most of the men 
on the Point. They evidently wished me well, and they 
were too polite to discourage me by expressing an unfavor- 
