336 
FOREST AND STREAM 
July, 1919 
THE OLD TIME RELIABLE “SHARPIE ” 
HOW TO BUILD AND OPERATE THIS FAMOUS LITTLE BOAT WHICH HAS BROUGHT 
SO MUCH PLEASURE TO THE CRUISERS ON OUR INLAND [WATERWAYS 
By P. P. AVERY. M. E. 
T he old time reliable “Sharpie” is a 
craft of such speed and seaworthi- 
ness that it should be brought back 
into service. The general and typical 
construction of such a boat is shown by 
the drawings and the descriptive specifi- 
cations following. 
The boat is especially adapted for 
rivers, harbors and sea coasts; for fish- 
ing, crabbing, shooting, etc., being used 
most successfully and efficiently by my- 
self on the Long Island Sound and its 
inlets from New York to Massachusetts. 
It has the ability to cut the water, when 
close hauled, like a shark, leaning on 
either side with the gunwale awash. If 
speed is the main object of the sport, 
an outrigger, adjustable by thumb 
screws, may be made to run out on either 
side, and the sportsman sits out over 
the foaming water and assists the center 
board in holding her down. Care must 
be taken of course, in watching for sud- 
den squalls and wind breaks, as at high 
speed overturning might happen if the 
sailor is away out on the outrigger when 
the breeze ceases suddenly, as it is wont 
to do. 
The center- 
board is likened 
to an adjustable 
keel ; it may be 
hauled up to its 
top position or 
lowered to the 
bottom position 
by a rope which, 
when fast in the 
holdfast cleat 
keeps the board 
in any position. 
The center-board 
is lowered ac- 
cording to the 
strength of the 
wind and the 
close hauling of 
the two sails. 
This boat is es- 
pecially adapted 
to tacking against 
the wind, and is 
in a class by it- 
self for ease of 
operation. 
I N building the 
boat use the 
best of well- 
seasoned, clear 
lumber, well filled 
with a good prim- 
er coat of best 
American white 
lead and linseed 
oil. 
All joints 
should be care- 
fully coated with 
asphaltum and 
caulked with 
oakum so as to make it water-tight. 
The fittings may be new or bought 
second hand and polished up. 
Regular long boat or row boat con- 
struction is adhered to as to details. The 
craft is made in sizes from 12 feet in 
length over all up to 20 feet and over, 
but the average is about 14 to 17 feet 
from stem to stern. 
After the hull is shaped up and screw 
holes puttied, the seats should be set in 
permanently, which stiffens the whole 
hull, and it is then turned bottom up on 
horses and the center board slot is cut 
in keel and through the floor. 
The exact location is determined from 
the inside and two holes are bored 
through, so that the exact cutting centers 
and lines are obtained. Build up the 
center board house of 1J4 in- wood, of 
even height as the gunwale and care- 
fully fit over inside longitudinal floor 
runner which is in. by 6 in. The 
center board house rests on this. It is 
also 6 in. wide by 3 feet 8 in. long, inside 
of which the center board hangs and is 
raised or lowered according to sailing 
conditions. The center-board house is 
held fast by iron corner brackets, two 
on each side and one at each end. 
The center-board is suspended on its 
axis end by a ^ in. standard thread 
bolt, with large washers inside and out- 
side and a cotter-pin hole outside of 
the nut. 
The other end, or rear end, is regulated 
by a rope and cleat — and the rope is 
held in bond by a wire wound, galvanized 
ring through a clamp, securely screwed 
into the top end, as shown on center- 
board in cut on opposite page. 
To the bottom 
of the board screw 
fast a piece of 
lead, hammered 
to the shape as 
shown, or a piece 
of scrap cast-iron 
may readily be 
found in the junk 
yard and six 
holes, 14 inch in 
diameter drilled 
and countersunk 
in it. This should 
weigh 50 to 100 
lbs., according to 
the length of the 
boat. Where the 
bolt passes 
through the top 
end of the center- 
board, the hole 
after it is bored 
should be bushed ; 
that is, it should 
be lined with me- 
tal. So take a 
piece of light gas 
pipe of a diame- 
ter to just fit over 
the bolt nicely and 
cut off a piece as 
long as the thick- 
ness of the center- 
board and drive 
it in. This makes 
a durable and 
proper job. 
I F the boat is 
used where the 
sea is at times 
Details in the construction of this simple, speedy craft. Side section and elevation choppy and squal- 
