Thread: MSD Rowboat built in Maine - Compass Project

Howdy,

I have moved things around a bit.

The Compass Project Youth project building the MSD rowboat is here

And now

Daddles building a Storer Rowboat (same plan as above) has started in Adelaide here

MIK

Update: Carbon blades for MSD oars were successfully infused; ready to glue onto Spruce looms. MSD construction largely done: only keel/skeg remain...and a lot of sanding. The students will post Friday...guys be sure to mention what you learned from doing the composites as well as the boat.

Clint

Clint, I think one solution for storing RAID41's correct length oars, will be to have split shafts. The best way of doing this will be to look for two used carbon windsurfer masts which have superb ferrules already.

If I go this route, I will need some blades. would be very light to post! Do you young team possibly want an order. Fitting the thin mast top might need sorting though?

I have some wooden 8'6" oars which I guess I could mould a ferrule, then cut the shaft in half, but carbon oars appeals to my nature!

Brian

Hate to be a brute Clint, but pics????

I want to see what it looks like ... I don't know yet!!!

MIK

5/28/09

From Carl, Alden, and Zac:

The boat is coming together well lately. We have put the inwales on and are ready for the oar locks, and knees. On the flip side of the boat we have to put the skeg and keel/skeg then its ready to be sanding and prepped for paining. That's the update so far, when we have more to introduce we'll post that too.

From Cody and Zach:

The boat is coming along nicely, it's starting to wind down. The inwales were just put on and is getting ready for the last small, few things that need to be done.

The last couple of classes we've been working with composites. We are making a fish (bait) box using vacuum infusion. We also have now infused the oar blades and we are getting ready to de-mold them.

From Ben and Hannah:

We have temporarily stopped working on the MSD skiff and are doing a composites project. We are building a bait box. On the MSD skiff wehave just glued the inwales on and have done much with that the past week. We learned about VIP or vacuum infusion process where you layer materials together, place them in a bag, then infuse it with epoxy resin. We have four different panels. The carbon fiber oar blades are almost finished as well

Cool ... you guys are really lucky getting a chance to to resin infusion ... it is still a newish thing and lots of us have not had a change to do it yet.

What did you think about it compared to the work on the boat itself? Which is more fun? Which do you prefer?

In past weeks we have been sanding constantly, and the last week we will be sealing the boat with epoxy. This proram has been really fun and i would reccomend it for anyone who has a love for the water, being a lobster fisherman I have learned alot of things that will help me in the future.



-Brandon

Howdy Brandon,

When I was at school, woodworking and metalworking was compulsory - no choice at all.

I was always the bottom of the class.

It took me years after that to find that I could be OK at woodworking and all the other things that go into boatbuilding.

It is great you have that feeling of confidence already. Building up some skills and knowledge

1/ Save you money - your own repairs, or you can see and understand the problem even if the job is too big to do yourself.
2/ Be fun
3/ Give you a nice feeling of knowing something else that is really useful and has an effect on the world.
4/ Might lead to other interesting things in your life.

All of those have happened for me!

MIK

First shot is Clint in the boat. Second shot below is the owner testing it out. Third is on the ground before launch. That is Zack in the next shot and me again putting her through some paces on the Androscoggin River. It was a great day and a nice launch.

The boat looks good in the water and rows very nice. It is fast and stable. Tracks great under speed, yet when going slowly the little bit of rocker lets the boat turn easily. I felt the boat would be a lot in any sort of sea, but not sure until we try. On flat water, she really glides along and bucks the current well too. I am a strong rower so I sent out a pretty good wake from the transom, but otherwise the exit is nice and clean.

The oars are White Spruce with carbon fiber blades that were vacuum infused. Hannah, as you can see, was most proud of the oars. They felt great and left a clean eddy.

My critiques are that the oars are too fat below the oar lock so we'll be slimming those down for the owner. My 9'1" oars for my boat Drake are no more than 1 1/8" at the transition to blade. The MSD's per the plans are a lot more. This puts too much weight outboard. Regarding the boat, I rowed only once but don't think I have any issues with performance. I do think the sheer can be lifted forward maybe 6mm? Hard to say without lining it off correctly. We did a closed gunwale on this boat, otherwise we built exactly to plan. We still need to paint the boat.

Cheers,
Clint

Waiting for the others to show...a nice scene. The other boat is our own Echo Bay Dory Skiff.

Thanks for Michael for hosting the students on this site. It was great.

Next year I hope to do more with this.

Congratulations to all the team, great job. Would love to hear how the team members felt rowing their own creation for the first time!

Brian

So the ruddy thing not only floats but it rows, maybe the designer knows what he's doing after all.

Well done boys, she's a credit to you. Make sure you claim hull number 1 when some sort of register is finally set up.

Richard

The designer does sure know some things about rowboats. The bummer about this whole thing is that I have yet ANOTHER boat to build on my list!

I think there are some improvements I can suggest. For one, I think the open gunwale is more than necessary. She is stiff and looks cleaner with the closed gunwale. The knees can be installed on top of the inwale at the stern and simplify construction. Planing the gunwales down using the template will be key to the looks of the boat. I think what will make it look even better is to spring sheer just a little bit forward of the forward bulkhead. I think this is because the twist (and there is a lot of it) is coming out of the boat and the visual effect is a little sagging of th sheer. It is tricky on any boat to deal wth this, so I tune this out of all my boats and eventually get it looking right. With this boat it was different because we marked and cut out panels directly and are not making patterns on a set of molds. You could also spring the gunwale, the rail, at the bow and that will have the same effect (in case you've cut planks already). I'd lift the sheer by 6mm for starters. Usually this is a builders choice, but I'd suggest it get drawn in. I'd also watch, Daddles, for the S-turn as the plank comes into the stem. The plank pinches as it enters the bevel for the stem, we think, and tuned some of that out (in fact we saw the same effect at the stern coming into the transom, but much less). But I am not sure WHY this was happening 100%, because when you are directing 8 newbies plus staff to build an MSD, infuse Carbon oar blades, carve Spruce looms, and finish off a 12' skiff all at the same time, things happen! But look for that effect anyway when you plank up and it is easy to fix, part of normal boat building procedure. I am a little worried about how we did the midship seat. We closed it off and have limbers, so water can flow in and flow out, but I would go with the other way, in hindsight. That is to use a bronze tube to run between sides of the seat so water goes in and has a direct flow out of the midseat area. There are not any other things. It is a simple boat and can be simpler with closed gunwales. The rest is just good building procedure. Follow Michael's prefinishing suggestions to save a lot of time!

Cheers,
Clint