Attaching the Outer Stems

Once all of the planking has been completed, the plank ends are cleaned up in preparation of fitting the African mahogany outer stems.

A belt sander is used on the upper plank ends where the outer stem fits flush with the inner stem and planks. Just past the turn of the stem, to where the outer stem will end, the planks must be cut away so that the outer stem can be inset and attached to the inner stem.

The stems are fitted and then epoxied into place.

After the thickened epoxy has cured, the screws are removed and the stem is planed and sanded so that it is close to its final shape.

Finishing Out the Interior (Part Two)

Tom has been working on the interior. So far, he has the breasthook in place which is really going to look nice once the varnish is on. It is a substantial piece of African Mahogany with a beautiful grain. He finished the exposed edge with a nice curve.

The gunwhales are on, hence all of the clamps. They are also done in African Mahogany to match the breasthook. The quarter knees are on at the stern, you can see one of them in the third photograph.

The forward and aft center thwarts (seats) have been dry fitted, but will be removed for routing, sanding, and varnishing. Tom built the thwart knees but was not happy with them, so he is rebuilding them.

Next up:

• Thwart knees
• Bow seat
• Stern seat
• Socket pads for the oar locks
• Socket pads for the cover

Row, row, row your boat...life is but a dream.

The Wood

Okoume plywood, often called mahogany plywood, is an African hardwood. It is light brown in color, sometimes lustrous, with variable interlocked grain. Okoume panels exhibit high strength to weight ratios, ideal for boat building. Face veneers are 2.3 mm thick, A/B grade, and rotary cut. Cores and crossbands are solid jointed and panel glued with waterproof/boil proof glue. Marine grade okoume meets or exceeds British Standard 1088. Okoume panels are extensively used by race class boat builders, rowing shell builders, and in various applications where its light weight, high tensile strength, good bonding properties and ease of finishing are of value. On this Penobscot, we'll do the hull planking, bulkheads, and transom in okoume.

All of the interior wood will be either Phillipine or African mahogany. The Phillipine mahogany is a beautiful honey brown when finished and will match the okoume planking nicely. It will be used as structural lumber to build the hull, the longitudinal stringers, the stem, the bulkheads, and the keel.

African mahogany is a deep, rich, burgundy-brown which will compliment the more subtle interior tones and be a stunning contrast to the white exterior. It will be used for the seats, gunwales, breast hook, and quarter knees.

The deadwood will be of white oak which is an excellent boat building wood. It is very tough and takes fastenings well. Due to its closed cell structure, which inhibits the intrusion of water, it is ideal for the one piece of wood on the boat that will remain submerged during normal use.

The combination of okoume, Phillipine mahogany, and African mahogany on this scale will be beautiful.

Our local lumber supplier quoted a four week delivery time for the okoume, so we contacted a well known boat lumber supplier in the Northwest--Edensaw Lumber in Port Townsend, Washington (www.edensaw.com). They did have some on hand and it should arrive within three to four days. In the meantime, we purchased the mahogany and the white oak as well as some pine for the frames and the building jig from High Desert Hardwood in Eagle, Idaho.

Row, row, row your boat...life is but a dream.