Hello All,
I'm fascinated by the Windsong. I live on a beautiful lake in SE Wisconsin, and this looks like a fantastic boat for my purposes. I have no boatbuilding skills but have a decent background in woodworking. I've built a couple beautiful remote control scale models of classic wooden boats.
Am I crazy thinking I could build one of these beautiful 15 footers?
I am willing to commit to going to boat building school for a week this summer in Maine, but I'm not sure that will be enough help for me.
They have a class specifically for wood-strip construction hulls, but it is full. They have another class that teaches wood strip construction with the bead and cove strip method. Would this be helpful or a waste of time?
I'm excited for this project but think I may be in over my head.
Where do I get supplies?
Hardware?
Where do I get the laser cut forms?
Any help or advice you could offer would greatly help me make the decision as to whether I should jump into this or not.
Thanks,
Steve G.
Steve
Do you the study plans? They should answer many of your questions.
Tony
Hello Steve,
I can honestly say that building a Windsong is relatively straight forward. With the grasp of woodworking, you have will have the basic tool handling skills, so you are already off to a reasonable start.
I was busy elsewhere so my wife, Max (Maxine) built the prototype and she had no prior experience of strip plank construction. Also, when she started on this project, she hadn’t seriously picked up any boat building tools for nigh on 20 years. Children! I did assist with some of the fit out and the rigging. We also have somebody building Windsongs for us who is not a boatbuilder but a time served chippy, and he is doing a great job.
I can’t really tell you that you can build a Windsong, but if you really want it and with your woodworking background, I would suggest that you are probably part way there.
As for taking a course in strip plank construction. I am not sure that that would be really necessary. I would suggest that you take a look at some YouTube videos of building strip plank canoes. Pay particular attention to filling and faring the hull, and laying the glass sheathing. You could also use the YouTube video producers to seek out suppliers of cove and bead cedar strip. After all, cedar grows in Alaska and Canada.
I think you will probably get the idea. In the final analysis though, it is about you, your curiosity, desire and that can do bone that may be buried somewhere inside you. Sorry for this cop out statement but....
The hull construction is pretty straight forward. Although it is possible to get the patterns printed on to paper and then cut them out yourself, a lot of the angst will be avoided by having the building jig, along with the transom patterns and the tank bulkheads etc, CNC cut for you. I am sure that you will be able to find a CNC machinist somewhere near you. They are popping up everywhere here in the UK so I am pretty sure that it would be similar in the US.
The one area that requires care is shaping the apron ( the inner stem) so that the strips flow snugly onto it. The trick here is not to be too accurate to start with. “Keep some money in the bank”, make it a little oversize and gradually bring it down so that the strips run nicely onto it. Check using some dry strips laid on the jig and see what needs to be done as you move on, bit by bit, from the sheer to the centreline. You should bear in mind that the apron changes shape, from being relatively wide at the sheer (where you start planking), to quite a fine entry at the forefoot. Also, leave the apron long. It will be trimmed back later on, when the deck is laid and you are working with fitting the bowsprit.
The trickiest part of the build is probably laminating and cutting in the curved beam that blends the side tanks into the foredeck. Look at the pictures in the Build Guide and take your time. Walk around the task a few times to get the hang of what you are aiming to achieve. When the time comes, we can also provide you with some additional photos if you require them.
I suggest that you print the Build Guide and keep it by you for reference and making notes. As we get any questions that haven’t been covered, the Guide will be updated.
Fittings. Although we use mostly Allen Brothers for our fittings in the UK, it isn’t written in stone. the blocks, deck eyes and such are actually pretty standard stuff, as long as they are of a similar size and spec. I am sure we can find a US supplier who has hardware of the same or very similar spec to the kit we use. It is on my to do list to see what is available for our friends in the US.
I already have the name of a US supplier of off the shelf carbon tube for the spars. I can let you have their details in due course.
We use MAS epoxy (Flag and low viscosity), an American company and possibly producing the most boat builder friendly resins.
If you do decide to go ahead with the project, I am more than happy to assist you with any specific queries as you progress.
I hope that my ramblings are of some use and will help you with your decision.