A 13ft 6in by 5ft 8in skiff re-drawn for modern plywood and epoxy resin construction using

Craig O'Donnell sent me a collection of jpegs of an old skiff design drawn by Edwin Schock some time ago, which made me think that I should draw up a ply-and-epoxy version of the plans and make them freely available via my Web pages. Here they are - many of the key dimensions have been included in the files, but any others can easily be obtained using a free and easily obtainable CAD package - check my software pages for details of how to obtain these.

If you wish to build this simple and rather traditional flattie, I think it is essential to make a model before you start; both the model and the boat will be straighter and truer if they are built using a strongback, as shown in the drawings.

Unless you are absolutely confident you know how to proceed, I would also strongly suggest that you buy a basic text on boatbuilding. There are many around, but one that seems particularly suited to the task of building this boat would be Reuel Parker's 'The Sharpie Book'. This gives good advice on materials and techniques, and comes from someone who really knows his subject.

Scantling-wise, I think that 3/8in waterproof ply sides and a half inch waterproof ply bottom will serve well. However the nesting is done, there should be plenty of half-inch material left over for making seats etc.

This is what the hull looks like:

This is the strongback:

The zip file contains a large gif showing how to cut out the sides, and also giving a suggestion for how the bottom might be nested.

Here are the all-important bulkheads, together with construction details. I have not included the gunwales in this illustration - you'll have to imagine them!

As drawn, the bulkheads are suitable for rowing or using a small outboard. However, either a set of solid bulkheads enclosing built-in bouyancy or a set of bouyancy bags will be required for a sailing version.

Finally, here's a sailplan I developed following a suggestion of Craig's.