January, iyk:u 
FORES T AND 
STREAM 
47 
THE HUNTING AND FISHING SKIFF 
(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17) 
then nail on and drive in 8d. nails, five 
inches apart, along the lap, clinching the 
nails inside. It may be said, in passing, 
that no boat builder ever drives a nail 
without first boring for it with a breast 
drill, as nothing spoils more work than 
wood split by the nail driven into it. 
If she is going to be a sail boat, now 
is the best time to put in the centerboard 
trunk and mast step, before the deck 
goes on and you cannot get at them to 
work. The trunk detail is shown in the 
plans. The posts are two strips of frame 
stock, notched an inch where they go 
into the bottom slot, and the sides two 
pieces of 12" x %" white pine, cut on the 
angles shown. Nail these to the center- 
board posts, with a daub of white lead 
and cotton cloth strips laid in the joint 
to make it water-tight, and then secure 
the trunk to the 1" slot cut in the bottom 
board in between two of the frames, by 
long brass screws driven in from under 
through the bottom. The joint, between 
the bottom of the trunk and post notches, 
and the bottom board of the boat, should 
have a length of cotton wicking, soaked 
in white lead paint, laid in before screw- 
ing home, to make it watertight. The 
board itself is simply a piece of %" by 9" 
yellow pine, cut as shown, with a head 
strip nailed across the top. The edges 
had best be rounded or pointed to offer 
less resistance to the water. I like this 
dagger board better than a swinging 
trunk board, because it is easily stowed, 
and besides, the long trunk of the swing- 
ing board takes up so much cockpit 
room, while the dagger trunk is short 
and goes in flush with the forward 
thwart, and so is not in the way. 
The mast step is a piece of yellow pine, 
screwed in between two of the frames, 
butting against both of them, and 
screwed to the bottom board. The stress 
on it in sailing is very great, so do not 
make it the skimpy little thing generally 
put in. If that step splits, or is tom out, 
the mast will come down, ripping up the 
deck. The mast hole also should be re- 
inforced with an upper deck beam, let in 
alongside the one joining the frame at 
that point, so that the mast can come 
down between them, and two short blocks 
are screwed in between them on each 
side of the mast to reinforce the strains 
on the deck planks. 
One more thing is needed; in altering 
the rowboat design to a small sail cruis- 
er, and that is a skeg, screwed to the 
bottom as shown. It is four inches deep 
at the extreme stern and not only gives 
something to hang the heel of the rudder 
on, but also prevents the boat slewing 
when sailing in a running sea. The rud- 
der is 16 inches across the foot and has 
a long tiller reaching over into the cock- 
pit. I find this simpler and handier than 
any yoke and rope scheme. 
Getting back to the boat construction, 
we left her ready for the deck planking. 
This requires, first, cutting out the sheer 
planks on each side. To make them fit 
the curve of the gunwale, cut diagonally 
into three pieces, and lay each on the 
gunwale, scribing the line of the latter 
with a pencil from the under side, and 
a second line, nine inches away for the 
coaming. The sheer planks are then 
nailed on flat down on upper chine, 
clamp, and deck beams, and the interior 
filled in with straight planks, nailed to 
the deck beams and butting against the 
line of the sheer planks. To secure these 
together, short butt straps are nailed in 
under them, where they meet. Curve of 
deck beams, IV 2 " to the foot. 
The cockpit coaming is then cut and 
nailed in place, bracing with short blocks 
underneath as shown, and, if you are go- 
ing ducking with her, carve out the rack 
strips and screw them on, along the top 
of the coaming. 
The gunwales and bottom fender-wales 
are then nailed on, and the boat is ready 
for caulking. These bottom fender-wales 
are especially useful in rock lakes, or if 
the boat is to be often slid onto a trailer 
or wagon, as they protect the bottom 
from many a scrape. For sandy bottom 
waters, like most salt water bays, they 
may be omitted. 
N OW, as to caulking, if you have not 
the skill with tools to make such a 
simple construction as this boat 
watertight, you have still the recourse to 
omit the upper chine in building her and 
put on the top strake edge to edge with the 
bottom, instead of overlapping. The boat 
can then be covered with canvas all over, 
and the same given three coats of paint, 
when she will be watertight. Canvas, 12 
ounce duck, painted, is astonishingly 
tough, as witness the hard usage that our 
canvas canoes get, and the fender-wales 
will protect it from much wear. But it 
makes the boat about thirty pounds heav- 
ier, and is more expensive by the cost of 
the canvas itself, so if you can make the 
boat lap-strake, and get your bottom, side 
and deck strakes tight, you will have a 
lighter, cheaper and more durable boat. 
All plank edges that are to be caulked — 
and this includes the deck, for a leaky 
deck is just as annoying as a leaky bot- 
tom-should be bevelled slightly before 
putting on with a plane, so as to lie open 
about a 32nd. inch on the outer faces. 
Planks that butt square, with a hairline 
fit, will buckle when they swell from the 
water, but, with the slightly open V, 
caulked with paint, lamp wicking and 
putty, the planks swell shut on this and 
crush the caulking tight between their 
edges. 
So the scheme of caulking her will be, 
first, to give her a prime coat of paint all 
over, working it well down into the 
cracks, then to caulk all seams, and then 
pay with putty, and finally put on two 
finishing coats of paint. In salt water 
the bottom coat should be, of course, of 
copper paint, to discourage barnacles and 
borers, and this goes on over the white 
lead prime coat. 
You now have a light, able, and sea- 
worthy cruiser that will give you many a 
week of inexpensive, good sport, — gun- 
ning and fishing, — or, if she is left just 
plain decked rowboat, you have one that 
can be carried to any lake in your neigh- 
“Clean As 
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(« 
Not a spot— practi- 
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day I bought it.” 
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C216 
