A

Long

Time

Comin

(or building a Caravelle)

Building a Wooden Epoxy Plywood Sailboat With Pictures

I have always wanted a sailboat, well, at least since I was about 12 years old. You see, I was in the Sea Scouts in Ireland when I was growing up and fell in love with sailing. We sailed Mirror Dinghies and paddled canoes and since canoes seemed like too much work well you get my point.

Until recently I was not in an area that lent itself to sail boats very well. Arizona, even though it has a few lakes, has way to many power boats and jet skis for a small sail boat to feel comfortable on the water. Nebraska, to me, had even less water available. After a year out of the country ( I did a remote tour in Korea) I had the opportunity to live on (or really near) the ocean. Well, the Gulf Coast at least. So 22 years later I get the hankering for a boat. We looked for a suitable boat for the family and had trouble finding one in our price range that was seaworthy. There were some really shabby boats for sale in the $1000 price range, but I wouldnt trust a 30 year old fiberglass boat that was in the condition these were in.

I happened to be browsing the web one day and came across a site that promoted building a boat yourself. What a great concept, build a boat, a new one at that, and know how and what the boat was built of. So we started looking at different boats that fit our budget and were suitable for the whole family of 5, our dog, and our gear. After scouring the web looking at different site and designs, I found a boat that was so similar to the little Mirror Dinghy I sailed years ago. It is a 14 boat, but it holds a boat-load of weight. It is the CV16 Caravelle from bateau.com.

Its big, roomy, and has beautiful lines. So after a few questions on the boat builders forum. I decided to purchase the plans and build the boat.

The following is an account of the building process and the triumphs and pitfalls that I endured. These stitch and glue boats are quite easy to make and can be made from standard plywood and other materials found at you local or favorite hardware store. There are a few items such as the pintels and gudgeons and maybe some running rigging that you may want to use a sailing specialty store for, but it is not required. You can use brass or stainless hinges for the rudder, and regular pulleys for the tackle. Youll save only a few bucks and get no where near the performance of proper sailing tackle though. To each his own. I had planned on trying to save a few bucks, but since my project went over my budget anyway, Im going to prolong the launch and buy the proper gear.

Here are the assembly instructions as I built the boat. They may or may not be as per plans. :)

I also have assembled a page on things I have learned during this process. Its a good read.

Amature Boat Building Pictures

Some of you were interested in my deck framing. I'll give you fair warning, it looks like a 4 year old did it! Where the bow frame came through the deck, I had to chisel out a chunk of the deck frame. If you decide to add deck framing, you might consider offseting the mid deck stringer to one side. I'm not finished with the deck varnish finish yet, it still needs a major power wet sand and a few finish coats of varnish. Then it will be dimple free.

I spliced my rubrail. You will notice there is about a 1/8" gap filled with thickened epoxy in the joints.

We took the boat out for a few test runs with an electric motor. She handled well without the skeg installed but was a little wide in her turns. I have since installed a skeg, but have sold the trolling motor along with the old plastic bass boat to further finance the project. Here are a few pictures of the unfinished boat on the water.

I recently finished most of the painting. Here are a few pictures of the nearly finished boat.

We took the boat out this weekend (Mothers Day 2002) and she looks great sitting on the water .

Another outing, this time at a BBQ we had for a going away. I took a few people out for a spin. That Caravelle holds a boat load and then some!

I am still not finished with the boat yet. I need to get my pintels and gudgeons for the rudder assembley, and the through bolt for the rudder and centerboard. Then I need to finish my mast, it's about half way built. I'll get pictures of it soon. I am building, for now, polytarp sails, until I can afford some dacron. Then it will be a true sailing vessel.

Planning a camping/cruise trip up either the Yellow River or Blackwater River this June/July.

Here is a log of our cruises (actual expedition type outings, not going to the beach kind of thing).

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Page last updated by my hand, May 22, 2002