Solo Sail on the Connecticut River

Rigging sail at the boat launch.

Captain's log   July 5, 2012

Location:  Lat. N 43º 12'  Long. W72º 28'
Weather:    Mostly sunny with highs in the 80's.  Wind N at 10mph. No severe weather predicted.
Chart: nonexistent, but have some prior knowledge of area [ie. avoid cattails -- shallow water]
Current: flowing south [down river]

Armed with my new sailing knowledge [I spent last week at Wooden Boat School's seamanship course], I loaded the car for my first solo trip in the "Seaturtle".  After making sure I had the oars and my lifejacket, I packed in the rudder, tiller extension, daggerboard and sails, hitched the trailer, and headed for the Connecticut River.  Fortunately, winds were light and I rigged the boat at the launch ramp while I was still on dry land.  Sadly, I still need my cheat sheet for knots, but finally had everything set up.  After several false starts, I managed to avoid the dock and get the boat into the water.  When will I ever master the art of backing up the trailer?  Probably right after I master making turns without running it over the curb.

Because the boat ramp is in a sheltered spot, I had to row a few feet to get out into the main part of the river.  I managed to do that without running aground on the cattails, and I put down the daggerboard.   The sails filled with wind and I left Vermont for New Hampshire.  Then I was immediately confronted with the problem of how to hold everything and stay on course.  The jib on the dory does not come across by itself; it has two sheets instead of one to pull it across by hand.  And of course I also had the mainsheet.  In the other hand I had the tiller extension.    The dory uses a push-pull system to control the rudder.  The advantage is that I didn't have the move the tiller behind my back; it was always at my right side.  The disadvantage was that it was not immediately apparent whether to push or pull it, and the New Hampshire shore was rapidly approaching.

After a little trial and error, I made ready to come about, pushed the tiller hard over, did a little juggling act with the sheets and was on a successful tack back to Vermont.  I caught a nice puff of wind, the boat heeled up a bit, and in about three minutes, I did the whole procedure again to avoid running aground.  I gradually realized that I didn't need to hold both jib sheets; I only needed the leeward one to control it.   With the current against me and fickle winds, I didn't make much progress. I probably only went a couple hundred yards up the river but I got lot of practice coming about. I even did a a few jibes, but was concerned about dropping too far down river to do them very often.

After a couple hours of tacking (where else could you sail and visit a different state on each tack), I headed back.  I'm pleased to report that I sailed right up to the dock, pulled up the dagger board and tied up the boat completely without incident.  I felt like a pro.

Ready to get underway.

Finally under sail!

Catching a breeze.

Tying Main Sail to Mast and Boom

Plunging into the unknown, I started working on how the sail rig goes together.  It's hard to believe a year has gone by since I bought the rope I would need to sail the dory.  CLC has an excellent manual with many detailed pictures, but I really had now idea how all these parts go together, and what to do with them once I get them together.  Sailing is a foreign language and learning other languages has never been one of my strengths.  Anyway I pressed on and kept the manual close by.

I took the thinnest line they sold me and started tying the main sail to the mast.  It was a struggle to get the 3/16" line through the grommets in the sail twice and then tie a square know with two overhand knots to hold it in place.  After I had done the mast I realized that I didn't have enough rope left to do the boom.  I re-read the manual and discovered that they were calling for 1/8" nylon line.  I went to the hardware store and bought the thinner line and discovered that this was exactly what I needed.  I could double this line easily through the grommets and quickly lashed the bottom of the sail to the boom.

Mounting rudder on dory

When I tried to put the rudder on the dory, I discovered that the gudgeons were not lined up right and the pintles would not go all the way in.  I've known about the problem for awhile but hated the thought of drilling more holes in the dory.  However,  I had no better solution and decided to move the top gudgeon.  I managed to re-use two of the holes and only needed to drill two holes instead of four.  I used silicon caulking to fill the holes.  With one of the old holes I may just put an extra bolt through it just for looks.  The other hole is closer to one of the new holes and is mostly covered by the washer of the bolt.  After all the work I've done, drilling these extra holes is very discouraging.  But it needed to be done if I'm to be able to sail the dory.

The rudder is in working order and attached to the dory.

After making sure I could get the rudder on and off the dory, I added the little metal stop to keep the rudder from floating off the dory when it's in the water.  To get the rudder off, I just need to turn the stop 90 degrees. 

Metal stop keeps rudder from floating off the dory.  The hole on the right is the one that stills needs to be filled.

Sea Turtle Insignia

June 3, 2012 After a long (really long) delay, I'm finally getting motivated to sail the dory.  While construction is mostly complete, assembly is not.  Last night I got the sails out of their bag, and spread them out on the living room floor.  I had always planned to put a sea turtle on the main sail to match the inlay on the stern seat of the dory.  I made a template to mimic the inlay and laid it out on the sail.

Using the template, I started cutting out the shapes from a yard of insignia cloth that I bought months ago online.  After cutting them out I just pealed off the backing, pressed it on the sail and smoothed out any wrinkles.  It seemed work just fine; I hope it holds up under use. 

Finished sea turtle on the main sail.

Irene Ends Connecticut River Boating for Awhile

The Hoyt's landing parking lot was under water.  The power pole in the center of the picture has a porta-potty chained to it, but you can only see the top of it.  In the distance, the dock has jack-knifedup out of the water, but at least it's still there.

August 29, 2011
The day after Hurricane Irene went through, MaryAnn and I drove around to see what was damaged.   Our house was fine, and we didn't even lose power, but many in town have lost everything.  I wanted to check on the boat landing at Herrick's Cove but the road was closed.  We couldn't get across the Williams River because three of the bridges were closed and the covered bridge in Bartonsville was washed away completely.  We decided to go north to Springfield and cross the Connecticut River into NH in order to get to the village in Bellows Falls.  At the bridge, we could see the  Hoyt's landing boat launch area--the whole parking lot was under water.  The Connecticut was also running as fast as I have ever seen it, and there was lot of debris in the water.  Tree trunks, propane tanks, and anything else that could float was going down the river at considerable speed.  I won't be launching the dory in the Connecticut for awhile.

Rigging the mast

August 20, 2011
I've been putting off attaching the hardware to the mast; partly because I've been having fun with the dory and partly because I've been worried about screwing it up.  I've read through the manual several times, but here is where having some knowledge of sailing would have been really helpful.  The manual has detailed images, it doesn't really give the whole picture of rigging a sailboat for a rookie like me. 

The boom needed a 1/4 inch hole at its far end.  This was an easy one but I wasn't sure how close to the end I should be.  Since I haven't rigged a sailboat, I don't even know what the hole will be used for, but I just winged it and drilled the whole and then used a countersinking bit to relieve the edges.  The trickier hole was drilling in the mast end of the boom for the gooseneck pin.  The manual said to drill a 3/8" hole but the pin was 1/2" thick.  So I drilled a half inch hole.  It's the first time I found an error in the manual.   Fortunately, my old drill had a bubble level built into it to help me keep the hole straight.

Attaching the gooseneck pin to the mast was easy, and the manual was quite specific: center it 21-1/2" from the bottom of the mast.

Attaching an eyestrap centered 119" from the bottom of the mast seems like it should be simple, but since I didn't know the nautical terms, it took me awhile to figure it out.  Three shrouds and the "jib halyard block" needed to go through the eyestrap. The shrouds were wires that were pre-made by CLC.  Two of them had to go around the mast awhile the third one just went through the eyestrap.  I had a vague understanding that the shrouds would keep the mast in place and would need to go in different directions.  Hopefully, I've installed them in the right place.  When I first attempted in install it, I wasn't sure what the block was and didn't realize that it needed to be in place before putting the nuts on the bolts.  After looking at the parts I had left and looking closely at the picture in the manual again, I realized that the "block" was a pulley that had to be in place before bolting the eyestrap down. 

The mast eyestrap is in place with the three shrouds and the jib halyard block.

Attaching the cleats was an easy one except that the cleats came with the kit but the screws didn't. After a trip to town to get screws, I was all set.  They get screwed down with #8 x 1-1/4"  screws about 10" from the bottom of the mast.

One cleat is on the front face of the mast and the other is on the port side.

Eyestraps for the shrouds needed to be bolted to the forward bulkhead.

To anchor the shrouds to the dory, I needed to attach eyestraps to  the #1 bulkhead.  They are bolted through the bulkhead.  To protect the plywood, I dipped the bolts in silicon caulk before putting them through the holes.

Since I was working on eyestraps, I put in the ones for the "bridle" into the rail 28 inches from the stern of the boat.  The bridle is a line that spans the stern of the dory to hold a block for the main sail, or the "mainsheet" as sailors evidently say.  I put silicon caulking on the screws before putting them in.

Here is the finished installation of the stern eyestraps on the rail.

Mounting the rudder on the dory

August 13, 2011
It took a week to put five coats of varnish on each on the rudder, daggerboard, mast, boom and tiller extension.  Each day would rub everything with a scotch brite pad and then put on another coat.

Today, I worked on the rudder to get it mounted on the dory.  I put the upper grudgeon on the transom and attached the pintles to the rudder.   I had already attached the lower grundgeon.   I had to call CLC to confirm which screws or bolts to use because the manual didn't really specify and I had a bag of hardware to choose from.   They said to drill through the rudder and use the machine bolts.  Since I was drilling through the Okoume, I was concerned about water getting in and decided to put some caulking in the holes before I put the bolts through. 

Varnishing sailing kit

August 4, 2011
I'm coming down the final stretch in boatbuilding.  Today I put the first coat of varnish on the daggerboard, boom, mast, tiller extension, and rudder.  I have several coats to go, but I should have the dory ready to sail in another week.  Of course, I still need to figure out all the directions to install the bags of hardware that is in the box.

The rudder has its first coat of varnish

Varnishing the tiller extension, boom and mast is a little tricky because one side is in contact with the plastic.

It doesn't look a lot different but now the daggerboard has its first coat of varnish over the epoxy.

Rowing with sliding seat

 August 3, 2011
The morning was cool but there no fog when I took the dory out.  Although I'm still having trouble backing up the trailer, I was pleased that I managed to get it close enough to the dock that I put the dory in the water without getting my feet wet.  I've rubbed the top of my foot raw near my big toe from the strap that goes over my foot to hold it to the footrest on the sliding seat, and the water would just make it worse.  Today I focused on getting a good rhythm going.  I discovered that if I mentally went through the steps, I could keep a steady pace:  Exhale on the stroke, then lift the blade and flip my wrists toward my body, inhale and push my arms forward to bring the oars back and flip wrists back to where they were to "lock" the blade in position.  Repeat. Because of the D-shaped oars, then make a satisfying thunk as I twist them back and forth, I could hear the rhythm as well as chanting to myself.   Flip. Lock. Stroke.  Of course at the same time, I need to slide the seat back and forth in order to get full power in each stroke.  Sometimes I just focused on breathing--inhaling as a brought the oars back and exhaling on the stroke.  I don't know if this is "correct" for sculling but it help me to stay focused. When everything was coordinated, it felt great moving smoothly across the water.  When I flubbed up, I felt ridiculous, but at least there are only a few people on the river early in the morning.

Shaping boom and tiller extension; Cotton swab test for epoxy

In the afternoon, I shaped the boom by tapering one end and rounding off all the edges.  Using my power planer and router, it didn't take long to do it.  It took me awhile to find a drawing in the manual to show me how much it should taper because it really wasn't spelled out in the text. 

I also shaped the tiller extension, but there wasn't much in the instructions. Fortunately I had some pictures from the Okoume Fest.  Except for the last couple of inches on each end, I just rounded off all the edges and then sanded everything with a fine grit sandpaper.

In addition to the mast, the boom and tiller extension are almost ready to varnish.

I put another coat of epoxy on the daggerboard.  Once I get another coat on, it should be ready to varnish, along with the rudder and spars.  I was glad to find the cotton swab test for epoxy coats in the CLC web site.  I had heard about the test at epoxy workshop at Okoume Fest but because I wasn't sure I remembered it right, I was glad to find it on the site.


The Cotton Swab Test shop tip on CLC web site:
"When is the best time to apply the next coat of resin? It all depends. But if your schedule allows, you will get the strongest bond when the prior coat is not yet cured. But if you do it too early, when the prior coat is still wet, you may float up the fiberglass, or you may not create the build you want. If you wait too long, you will need to sand.
MAS Epoxies suggests a "cotton ball" test. When the epoxy is still wet the cotton ball will not stick. When the resin is too dry, the cotton won't stick. In between this two extremes is a period when the epoxy has stiffened up somewhat but is still tacky. During this period, the resin will grab the cotton fibers and pull on the ball or swab. This is the best time to apply another coat.
While the epoxy is tacky, new coats will not mix in with the prior coat, or get under the fiberglass. If you wait longer it is not a big deal, but you will need to check for blush, and clean it off, and then you will need to sand. As long as you can push your thumb nail (the "rule of thumb") into the dry resin, you do not need a heavy sanding, but a light sanding will promote a better bond."

Lost in the fog

July 31, 2011
I got up early this morning and took the dory out on the Connnecticut River at Herrick's Cove. I'm getting better at backing up the trailer, and this time I put the oars in the oarlocks before I put the dory in the water.  This was a much better way to do it because everything was ready to go once I had the dory in the water.  The morning was cool, the water was still and the fog danced on the water.  I rowed steadily for half an hour upriver, and then took a break, had some water and got out my ipod.  I drifted along while I got the cords untangled and put the ipod in the pocket of my life vest.  Finally ready to row again, I realized that the fog was thicker and I really had no idea which way was back to the landing.  Having no choice I picked a direction and decided I would row for 15 minutes and see if I could see a landmark.  When a concrete structure came into view I realized that I was still going upstream and needed to turn around.  I guess I should put the kayak compass in the dory or bring along a GPS.  It's a good thing I was by myself--it's kind of embarrassing to get lost on such a short outing in a place where there are only two choices, and if I had done nothing I would have eventually just drifted back to my starting place.

Shaping the daggerboard and mast

July 30, 2011
I finally got motivated to do some more work on the sailing kit.  I had previously glued the daggerboard parts together and today I started shaping it by rounding off the front edge and making a big taper on the back edge.  Following the manual, I drew a line one inch in from the leading edge and three inches in from the back edge, and then used the belt sander to taper the plywood.  I put the daggerboard in the dory to draw a line to show me which part would be in the water and then just stopped the taper when I got to the line.  Okoume is really pretty soft and it didn't take long with the belt sander to do this job.  Then I followed up with the orbital sander to smooth everything out.  I went over everything a second time with fine grit paper, and put the first coat of epoxy on the daggerboard.  I had it hanging from the deck above so that I could do both sides at once.  I was a bit windy today and it kept swinging back and forth but I finally got a coat of epoxy on it.  When I checked it later, I was disappointed to see some runs and it was sticky enough that little black flies were stuck to it like flypaper. Oh well, I was going to sand it anyway before doing another coat.

Sanding the large feathered trailing edge.

Putting the first coat of epoxy on the daggerboard.

I had also previously glued the pieces of the mast together and had the basic shape cut out.  Today I used a power plane and the belt sander to shape it to the template that I had from CLC.  I had to keep carrying it around to the front of the house and trying to fit it into the mast step in the dory.  After three tries I finally had the right shape for the bottom of the mast.  Then I turned my attention to the top of the mast.  I had to get out the template again and draw new lines.  Using the power plane I cut the mast down to the right size, and then finished with the sanders.  Finally I used a router to round off all the edges.  I was surprised how small the top of the mast looks--I hope it holds.  It's nice to have a set of directions to work from; I can trust that someone has worked out all the details and I just need to follow them closely and everything will work OK.

Shaping and rounding off the edges of the mast.

Rowing continued

July 28, 2011
Took the dory out again on the Connecticut River.  This time things went a little more smoothly and I was able to go further up the river in the same amount of time. I went out early before the fog burned off and there was no wind. I discovered that water does splash up out of the daggerboard trunk--I'll need to make something to cover it.  I've also been thinking that I need a big rear view mirror.  This time I was careful to stay away from the river bank because there were some trees and logs stuck in the shallow water that I almost hit the last time I was rowing.  The biggest disadvantage to rowing is not seeing where you are going.  Fortunately there are not many people out on the water.  I saw a couple people fishing from their boat in the mist but I never came that close to them.  However I had some close calls with logs stuck in the water.

Learning to row

July 26, 2011
For the past couple weeks, we have been too busy and I haven't had a chance to do anything with the dory.  I keep telling myself to get moving on the sailing kit, but I also want to enjoy the boat now that it can be rowed.

I took the dory down to Herrick's Cove by myself, and got it into the water without incident.  I had put the sliding seat back in and managed to get one sculling oar in place but could not reach the other one from the dock.  I decided to get in in the dory and got the other oar in place and then managed to get far enough away from the dock so that I could use the oars.  Unfortunately, I no sooner got out in the river when I realized that I had left my life vest in the car, and had to go back.  I went through the whole procedure again and finally at long last I was out in the river on my own.  Coordinating, arms, legs and sliding seat took awhile.  I decided to practice each part before trying to put it all together.  For awhile a rowed with just my arms, then I put my feet in the footrests and practiced sliding and keeping my back straight.  I thought I had mastered the movements but then realized that I wasn't turning my wrists.  To get that movement down, I again rowed with just my arms but turned my wrists on the return to let the blades just skim above the water.

Once I had the movements synchronized, it felt great.  I'm not sure how good my form was but it felt great.  I had the same feeling I get on a good day cross country skiing.  When I hit the groove, everything else just falls away and I feel like I'm gliding effortlessly.   For a little while today, everything was moving perfectly and I was just flying across the water.  It gave me a glimpse of how much fun this dory can be.

The sliding seat is definitely worth it.  Sitting up a little higher, and the longer oars give a lot more leverage, and the sliding seat lets me use my whole body to good advantage.  Although I've never been in a sculling boat, I also like the stability of the dory even though I can't go as fast.  Sculling boats look like fragile water bugs to me; one false move and I'd be in the water instead of on top if it. 

Sliding Seat Launch

July 7, 2011
I took off the clamps the repaired rail, and unfortunately the seam is very visible but at least it seems to be holding well. Finally we were ready for the launch of the dory with the sliding seat in place.  Pete and Donna were up and joined us. This time we strapped the dory and ratcheted tight instead of using the bouncy bungee cords.  When we got to Hoyt's Landing in Springfield, we were disappointed to discover that the strap on the bow had slipped off and the boat banged against the post scraping off some of the paint.  Donna reminded me that there is never a last coat when it comes to finishing a boat. Anyway the damage was not bad enough to stop the launch.  This time I backed up the trailer by myself and managed to get it to the water without a lot of do-overs.

Christening the dory for the sliding seat launch.

Matt went out with me as I tried out the sliding seat.  What a difference between rowing with the sliding seat and just regular oars.  I was having a good time with it even though I need to a lot more practice to get all the motions coordinated. It's trickier than it looks, but it's going to be fun to learn.

Learning to row with the sliding seat is trickier than it looks.

Matt shows how it's done.

Pete Wayne and Matt out with the sliding seat.

After Pete and Donna had a turn, we took out the sliding seat, put in the thwart, and brought out the regular oars.  MaryAnn, Becky and the girls arrived and our little flotilla started down the Connecticut River. Matt and I and Molly and Annie were in the dory. MaryAnn and Becky used the kayaks, and Pete and Donna had their canoe.  Matt and I had an awful time trying to coordinate our rowing and kept zigzagging across the river instead of going straight downstream.  Things improved somewhat when Matt asked Molly to sit in the stern seat.  Both she and Annie had been sitting together on the middle thwart.   That seemed to help and of course we had more practice.

At about the four mile mark, we took a break on a sandy beach.  The kids had fun climbing the sand bank but were not thrilled to get back in the boats.  Fortunately we had only a couple miles to go and we pulled out at Herricks Cove.  We had left a car there in order to go back up to Springfield and retrieve the car and trailer.  It was a great afternoon and I was happy to have so much company to the dory's first big trip.

Molly, Becky, Annie, and Matt in dory on the Connecticut River.

Installing Sliding Seat and Making Repairs Already

July 6, 2011
I finished assembling the sliding seat.  I got some Never Seez a few days ago to put on the big nuts that hold the pins that support the oar locks.  I was surprised that there were so many pieces for the oar locks but finally got everything together.  When I brought it out to put it on the dory, I was shocked to discover that one of the scarf joints on the port side rail had separated and that over a foot of the rail was sticking out.  The maiden voyage of the dory was more difficult than I realized.  At least it waited until we got home before coming apart.  I called CLC to see if maybe I should screw it together, but was told to just sand out the joint, tape any parts that I didn't want to get epoxy on, make sure that thickened epoxy covered both surfaces of the joint and clamp it together as I had before.  Epoxy is stronger than screws.

A day after the maiden voyage, I discovered that the rail split along the seam.

Once that repair was made, I attached the slide seat to the supports that I had built.  I drilled a hole through the rail and bolted it to the T-shaped support that gets bolted through the bulkhead.  For bow end I realized that I didn't need to drill through the rail and could use the existing threaded sockets in the bottom of the rail.  I drilled a hole through the okoume plywood that I glued to my cedar support board.  Unfortunately, I drilled in in the wrong spot and had to drill another hole, but finally I got it attached.  I put some furniture pads on the bottom of the cedar board and then put the whole assembly in place.  The final step was to attach the wood supports to the boat with four bolts and wing nuts.  To take it in and out of the boat, I just need these four bolts.

The dory is ready for its sliding seat launch.

Fourth of July Dory Launch

June 30, 2011
I seemed to be jinxed when it comes to working on the middle thwart.  When I tried to put it into the dory, the long foam block was too close to the port side and wouldn't go into place.  I had to cut a little off the block, put some more epoxy on it and then paint it black again. 

July 3, 2011
Finally I was able to get the #2 thwart in place and screwed it down.  To get ready for the launch tomorrow, I also screwed down the #1 thwart, and put the three sets of oar lock sockets on the rails.    I ran out of time to get the leather oar collars on the set of oars that didn't have them.

July 4, 2011
We watched Becky, Annie and Molly run in the Firecracker 5K race in Saxtons River and then stayed for the parade.  After lunch Matt helped me hook up the trailer to the Escape.  Finally we were ready to move the dory. Matt, Becky, Billy and I carried it around the house and put it on the trailer while MaryAnn filmed the big event.  We put bungee cords on it to hold it to the trailer, but later discovered this was not a good thing.  Matt was in his car behind me as we went down to the river. He said it was scary to watch:  the boat bounced separately from the trailer on the rough dirt roads.  Fortunately we did no damage and launched the boat with great ceremony at the Herricks Cove boat launch.   We popped a bottle of sparkling cider and MaryAnn poured some over the bow--no one was breaking any bottles over this boat!

The dory is on the way to the river.

Matt backs the dory into the water.

Getting closer.

Christening the dory.

We had the two sets of oars and Matt and I took it out to try it out together, and then everyone took turns riding in the dory. What a great feeling to be rowing my own boat after spending the last six months building it.  I was very pleased when some of the others at the boat launch came over to check it out. 

Getting ready to row.

Finally synchronized.

More riders

Safely back out of the water.

Dory setback- flotation blocks glued backward

June 28, 2011
Dory disaster!  When I tried to put in the center thwart, I discovered that I glued the flotation blocks on backward.  The cut out for the mast step was on the wrong side, and to make matters worse the slot between the blocks was not wide enough to fit over the bulkhead.  After thinking about the possibilities, I decided the only option that made sense was to take a saw and cut the blocks off the thwart and start again.   Once I had them off, I sanded them smooth and also had to sand the epoxy on the bottom of the thwart smooth.  In cutting them off, I scratched the thwart and decided to put a coat of unthickened epoxy on it to give it additional protection.

Two of the blocks have been cut off; one to go.

The last block goes the whole length and is more difficult to cut off.

I had to put some shims between the block and the thwart to keep the saw from binding.

Finally, the block is off.

The blocks are sanded smooth again.

I put a coat of epoxy on the thwart after sanding it.

June 29, 2011
With some trepidation, and after several test fittings, I glued the flotation blocks back on the middle thwart with thickened epoxy.  This time I also used a stick of wood to make sure the slot was wide enough to fit over the bulkhead.

Varnishing Oars

June 27, 2011
The things I ordered from CLC arrived today.  The package spent all day Friday riding around the the local area but the substitute driver couldn't find me, and of course couldn't be bothered to just call me.  It wasn't a big order, just a small container of Cell-O-Fill and another quart of varnish, but without them I couldn't finish the thwarts and oars. 

I added another coat of epoxy on the new sliding seat support.  I discovered that by putting sticks covered with plastic in the slots and then supporting the sticks on boards, I could put a coat on the the whole thing at once.

By supporting the "yoke" on sticks, I could put a coat of epoxy on both sides at once.

With the new supply of varnish, I started on the old oars that I had sanded. After a bit of a struggle, I got the oar locks over the leather collars, and then suspended the oars from the ceiling under the deck.  That way I could varnish both sides of the oars at once.  I think they may have been stained before, because I ended up with stripes in the wood when I put on the varnish--tiger oars!

The oars are hanging from the ceiling of the deck so that I can varnish both sides at once.

Sliding seat supports revised

June 21, 2011
I worked on assembling the sliding rowing seat, but I had no idea how complicated it would be to put together.  Fortunately I found some additional instructions online because those that came with the seat were rather skimpy and the company obviously had changed some parts.   The new instructions had some pictures which helped but I still had to do some parts two and three times.  At one point I had the foot supports on upside down; instead of pointing up, they pointed down.


June 22, 2011
I've been trying to figure out how to put the sliding rowing seat in the dory.  I built the supports and the stern support looks easy to install over the stern bulkhead. The thwart comes out easily and the support fits over the bulkhead in its place.  However, the support on the other end of the rowing seat is supposed to be bolted to the middle thwart.  However, I the foam is attached to the thwart and I could not see anyway to get nut on the bolt. 

When Pete was over, he suggested that I get a 2"X6" piece of cedar, cut slots in the ends and bolt it on place through the bulkheads.  That way, the end of the sliding seat could be bolted permanently to the board and the whole assembly could be easily lifted out of the boat.

I called CLC today and managed to talk to John even though he was about to pull out of the parking lot headed for the wooden boat show in Mystic. He said the the original piece he designed was bolted through the seat because they had hollowed out a space in the foam insulation to get the nut on the bolts.  When I asked about Pete's alternative, he thought it was a good solution, and said it would be very strong.

After the call, I called Hamshaws Lumber and found that they had cedar in 2"x6" size and that I could buy just the four feet I needed.  I used the thwart as a pattern and cut slots into each end.  At Pete's suggestion, I narrowed the ends down to four inches.  It looks a little better and I could use shorter bolts to attach it to the bulkheads.

Using the #2 thwart as a pattern, I cut the slot, and then narrowed the ends of the board.

The narrowed end should make it easier to put  the seat in and take it out.

My new seat support is ready for finishing.