wrote:
On Jan 5, 12:05 pm, Wayne.B wrote:
On Sat, 05 Jan 2008 11:50:24 -0500, HK wrote:
We built dinghies that looked very much like yours, and rowboats that
were somewhat more stout.
How many did you actually build by yourself ?

I'm guessing zero.





In a word Harry, you know just about zip with regards to boat
building, and you have incredible gall denigrating the skills of
others. Get a life.

Well, probably a little off. In the 50's you could get a locally built
boat like a Brockway, say 16 to 20 feet for a few hundred dollars,
Dynamite Payson sold prams up in Maine for probably 50-75 dollars...

Of course, I was only born in 58 so I am taking it from the old salts
that I have run into over the years..


He's not even right about okoume. It is a relatively weak wood, and
subject to rot. It's use in kit boats came about because the world
supply of real mahogany, a stronger, more rot-resistant wood, got tight
and the resulting marine mahogany ply, became much too expensive and
scarce for boatbuilders. What's really sad is that many purveyors of
okoume claim the product they are selling is mahogany ply, but it ain't.

I'm pretty sure my dad spec'd 3/8" thick *mahogany* marine ply on the
small boats the shop turned out. He used cedar, too. No "sewn together"
boats, either. The boats the shop fiberglassed were built with different
"skins."

Here's a reference you might like...the Stur-Dee dory site. My father
did business with the founder and owner, Ernie Gavin, for at least 25
years. If you look on the "history" page, you'll see a reference to
16-foot dories Stur-Dee built and sold in the mid 1950s for $195:

http://www.stur-deeboat.com/history.htm


"The atmosphere at Stur-Dee speaks of the 1950s. In the once, there is
no computer, fax machine or push-button phone. Ernie Gavin believes a
rotary phone and the postal service are sufficient means of
communicating. Shelves are filled with dusty books on such subjects as
history and evolution – Gavin is a voracious reader. Logbooks with
transactions dating back to 1954 also can be found on the shelves.

"Gavin grabbed the 1964 edition, blew a thick layer of dust off it and
turned to a page filled with scribbled notes that only he could
decipher. One transaction, the sale of a 16-foot dory was for $195."


And, because it bears repeating, once again, the misinformation from WhineB:

"No one in the 50s or 60s could afford to build a wooden boat bigger
than 7 ft for $200, even using the cheapest materials. Nowadays a
sheet of good Okume sells for $200, and fyi, Okume is about as good as
it gets for marine plywood. It is light, strong and highly rot
resistant. Many racing hydroplanes have been built from it, and other
lightweight high performance boats."

Have a nice day.







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George W. Bush - the 43rd Best President Ever!