Building a Boat in Cramped Quarters

This is the documentation of the building of my boat. The design is called a 'Wanderlust'. I bought the plans from www.glen-l.com, and also bought their frame kit (which includes the frames, stem, transom and transom knee) and bronze hardware kit because I was pretty sure it would cost more to find and build this stuff myself. Besides, I don't want the boat to drive in circles because I messed the frames up.

(recent picture)

Before attempting anything you see on this web site, you should definitely read our disclaimer. In fact, just seeing this website can probably cause mental or physical damage, so you really should read it now.

This is the second boat I've built in as many years, with my good friend John. He doesn't laugh at my crooked cuts (much), and is REALLY good to have around, even though he occasionally drills through my hand and nails my foot to the floor. If you read anything on these pages that sounds like common sense, it's probably coming from him.

The first boat be we built was a 15' open skiff (a 'Diablo'), from plans from a book by Howard 'Dynamite' Payson. Here are some pictures of the maiden voyage.

The Diablo was to be John's fishing boat, but I want something to go camping and cruising in. My boat has to have a water closet (toilet) because I hate being stuck on the water when nature calls. Basically, what I want is a floating outhouse, with a cabin, bunks, and a big cockpit and/or deck area to lounge around in. I called Glen-L, and the Wanderlust is what they recommended.

I am building this boat in half of a two-car garage, 21' long, and with a 7' x 9' opening (to get to boat out... always thinking ahead...). The boat is 19' long with a 7' beam, overall height 6'3", so there is veerrrrry little space to work in.

First we had to build the support form, which is bolted to the cement floor. The horizontal support members have to be perfectly level in all directions, and the vertical legs have to be square, and properly spaced to support the frames. It also must be braced to be rigid enough not to move when we trip and fall into it. The hull is assembled upside down on this form.

The first pictures I took show the frames up on the form. Notice how little room we have. It's going to get worse as the hull comes together...

Looking aft Problem #1: Frames 3, 4, and 5 are supposed to have a plywood reinforcement at the keel, according to the plans, but the actual pre-built frame 3 does not have one (it's a solid piece of mahogany, like frames 1 and 2). When we assembled the frames onto the support, however, we didn't notice this discrepancy, and as a result, frame 3 is out of position by about 3/4 of an inch. (note: in the above picture, frame #1 is the one farthest away from the camera) This little difference changed the curve of the hull noticably; not at frame 3, but all the way forward of frame 5 (frame 4 acted like a pivot). We did not realize the affect this would have , because... well, the hull is invisible, isn't it? Therefore, we did not correct the frame position. This is hopefully not going to be affect performance of the boat, and you probably wouldn't notice anything was amiss if you didn't read this web page. It will probably bother me to my grave, however. And the moral of this story is...have you read our disclaimer? Hindsight 2 years later: The performance of the boat was not affected, and at this point, I could care less about it.

Looking forward, from outside of the garage. The transom is not installed yet, and is apparently supposed to float in the air somewhere behind those last upright supports. The plans are a bit vague on positioning this, but we'll burn that bridge later.

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