Catspaw: Suitable for a Beginner?

[novice builder]

I am evaluating options for building my first wooden boat and could use some advice on a project that is suitable for a beginner. I am interested in building a day sailer that I can row.

With the exception of one 10-week course at the John Gardner boat school in Mystic (lofting, planking, etc.), I am a true beginner. Based on some on-line research, I was thinking of building a Catspaw Dinghy 12', primarily because there seems to be a wealth of "how to" advice available for this project. Even so, the project calls for a builder with "intermediate" skills.

Can anyone advise on the suitabiliy of this project for a beginner? I had planned to get some supervision from the Woodenboat Workshop in Norwalk, CT but wanted to keep this to a minimum to save money. Can I reasonably tackle this project on my own?

[J. Dillon]

From what you say , I'd advise tackeling a different boat for a first time project.

One member here,a skilled professional wood worker complained bitterly about the instructions provided with the plans for this boat. Consider something simpler maybe the Glouster dory or other flat bottom craft. Build it and gain some confidence in finishing it and enjoying the boat. Too many get bogged down and never enjoy their goal in a reasonable time.

You will get lots of advice here but YOU still have to do it.

JD

[Mrleft8]

I believe that would be me that Jack is refering to.... ;) Aside from the instruction book being completely useless, it's not an impossible first project. That said, however, I agree with Jack on starting out simpler. Nothing is more deadly to a dream than frustration. If you start out with a boat that you can complete in time for summer sailing, you'll be much more likely to actually do it. If you started right now, and worked like a demon, and had 3-4 friends ready to drop everything to help you rivet the planks, I still don't think you'd get launched before August...
Save the Catspaw for your second boat, when you can relax and really take your time and get it right. They're beautiful boats, and they sail very well.

[rbgarr]

The Pooduck design might be more suitable for your purposes and skill level. The WB plans come with frame, transom and plank patterns IIRC, alternative sail plans, and a couple of Forum members have built them.

[almeyer]

The Catspaw is built in true traditional fashion - carvel planked over steamed frames. A very pretty boat, but not something I'd recommend for the beginner. If you don't mind plywood and epoxy, there are some very pretty designs out there that are still simple enough for the beginner to tackle. I'm also a beginner, and last year finished Arch Davis' Penobscot 14, which is only a little larger than the Catspaw, rows and sails nicely, and looks great. Since I built this boat, I'm a little prejudiced, but have fun looking around at what's available.
Al

[Thad Van Gilder]

It is doable, but I really believe clinker planking would be easier for the raw beginner to produce.

The shape is not that hard to produce, the frames are small enough to steam easily...

I'd say it's doable overall. just challenging

Thad
S/V IVY

[Steve Lansdowne]

In making your decision consider how long you want to take, how much frustration you can deal with, who nearby you know or can get to advise you in person if you get stuck, and how much support there is/you have in terms of "how to build this boat" books and other more general small boat building books. If you enjoy a slow building/learning process then you might be able to tackle it successfully, but if you're eager to get on the water you might best go with a simpler boat as a first time project. Many folks can't stop at one boat! Hopefully you'll change your Forum name to "advanced builder" before long.

[J. Dillon]

An additional thought is to look into the family boat building projects that our host sponsors. If you have a family it might be a good way to get all involved, see what it is like and then decide on a bigger project. In a week end you and your kids can be on the water in a boat that the family built. ;)

JD

[Dave Gray]

There are a couple of books you can look at for the Catspaw. Greg Rossel has "Building Small Boats (http://www.woodenboatstore.com/store/prodinfo.asp?number=325-111&variation=&aitem=44&mitem=52) that pretty much follows along building a Catspaw (I think - I read this book about a year ago). Also How to Build the Catspaw Dinghy (http://www.woodenboatstore.com/store/prodinfo.asp?number=325-010&variation=&aitem=36&mitem=52) may help.

Me, I've mostly built a Pooduck. :D

[Jack Heinlen]

How about this?

http://www.boat-links.com/Atkinco/Sail/Alone.html

http://www.boat-links.com/Atkinco/Sail/images/Alone-1.gif

[ 01-05-2005, 06:48 PM: Message edited by: Jack Heinlen ]

[Bruce Hooke]

You didn't say how much of a beginner you are at general woodworking (vs. boatbuilding in particular). If you are a very experienced cabinet and furniture maker but new to boatbuilding then I'd image the Catspaw would be manageable. If, however, you are also basically a beginner woodworker then I would look for a much simpler design than the Catspaw.

[Don Bailey]

Hi Novice builder,
I know someone who built the Catspaw as his first boat so it is do-able. He even cut the trees, aged the wood and sawed it into boards. Beautiful boat and sails well. Depends on your woodworking skills.
DonB

[novice builder]

Wow! Thanks a million to everyone for your terrific feedback and advice. This was my first post to the forum - - it has really made the woodenboat community come alive for me. I've also discovered the "search" feature on the fodum and found it to be a really terrific resource. After many years of reading books on wooden boats in solitude, its excellent to realize that I am not alone after all.

After much consideration, I have decided to go with the Penobscot 14. Based on historic postings in the forum this seems to be a good stretch but with a reasonable chance for success.

Its not going to be easy - -several asked about my woodworking experience. Its nil. In addition, my poor instructor at the Woodenboat School said about a mistake I had made in lofting, that in all his years he had never seen another like it! I think I'm in for it - but its time to stop reading and start doing!

[Carlsboats]

You might take a look at Joel White's Shellback. It is light (mine is just over 100 pounds), rows and tows beautifully, sails well, and goes together pretty easily. Built with plywood with lapped seams and only one frame, so interior comes out smooth, easy to paint and keep clean. Professional builders claim they can turn one out in 100 hours. As the builder of more than a
half dozen boats, it took me 150. For a beginner, figure 200 hours.
Plans available from WB, and include dimensioned drawings to cut the side and bottom panels (no lofting). Plank laps are epoxied and held together with drywall screws until the glue kicks. Then screws are removed and holes buttered up, making for strong, watertight hull. There are lots of Shellbacks around, and I have never heard of a glue joint failing in one.
Two changes I made: At the suggestion of Joel White, I increased the depth of the dagger board a few inches, to improve windward ability. (Can't tell if it really helped, as I have not sailed against other Shellbacks to check.) Also,
I swapped out the solid spruce mast for a hollow birdsmouth mast. It's whole lot lighter, and easier to set and store.
I still have a Shellback building frame in the attic of my shop, if you or someone else can use it.

[Ken Hutchins]

You aren't going to learn any younger and you won't learn sitting on your duff thinking about it. JUST DO IT. Don't worry about mistakes, they are a source of btu's.

[J. Dillon]

What Ken sail , :D Just do it. :cool:

JD

[Jack Heinlen]

Just a few other thoughts. It depends, a bit, on what sort of skills you wish to cultivate. They do overlap but... The Penobscot 14 will teach you basics of lapstrake construction but it won't force you to develope the level of skill in getting good fits in the laps a solid planked boat would. I suspect Davis lines the planks for you also; another eye skill that you won't get. Finally, epoxy is an acquired taste(or distaste). Not to discourage your choice, it's a nice little boat. But it's about as different from a Catspaw as can be, even though the shapes aren't too dissimilar.

The boat I pointed to, and many other flat bottom skiffs, are a good place to start if you are aiming toward developing skills for solid planked boats. You have to loft, line plank, select stock, get good fits in the laps, learn various fastening techniques etc. You might even have to do a little steaming to get the coamings in, AND it has caulking bevels and cotton caulking in the bottom! smile.gif Plus, I think that skiff is a nifty little boat. I wouldn't mind building her myself. It would be a much more pleasant boat in the building, IMO.

So it depends on what skills you want to learn. I thought from your original post that you wanted to learn traditional skills, hence the skiff I posted.

Good luck.

Jack

[Jack Heinlen]

Bump

[novice builder]

Hey Jack:

Thanks for your reply. I have to admit that your post has got me in irons.

I printed out the literature for "Alone". It does seem like a nice project and you are correct that I am anxious to develop some traditional skills. However, I am a bit intimidated by the lack of "how to" advice. The videos and detailed drawings of the PS14 are an appealing aspect of that project. I just want to finish what I start, and I'm not sure that the Atkins design gives me enough basic guidance.

What was your first project? How did you learn?

[Jack Heinlen]

Hi,

I learned on a flat bottom skiff, and also repair work on various boats. I went to school at "The Apprenticeshop", and there the beginner's boat was a skiff, not unlike that Atkin one. No deck at all. Called "Susan".

I was totally green, hadn't picked up a hammer in fifteen years. A skiff like that isn't all that hard, and it massages you into it.

The hardest thing, to my mind, is finding stock. Plywood is so easy. But the solid stock is there, it just takes a little more work. And if you want to learn the skills of solid wood boats you just have to make that extra effort.

There are many good books that will walk you through that Atkin skiff. Check out John Gardner's stuff. And, this place will talk you through it most days. There's a lot of not so good information, but probably a dozen here really know their stuff, and still consent to advise. I'm a piker, but know a little. If you choose the Atkin, you won't be alone.

Good luck! I think "Alone" is a very cool boat. The plane on cedar and oak is much finer than it is on plywood. Es verdad.

[Keith Wilson]

I think an unmodified Catspaw, as nice as it is, would be a really BAD boat to start on unless you're already a very skilled woodworker. First consider the fact that carvel planking really doesn't like wet-dry cycling (living on a trailer), and thus may not be at all suitable for the kind of use you'll give it. This boat has all of the hardest features of traditional boatbuilding - cutting complex rabbets, spiling lots and lots of planks, getting the caulking seams just right, backing out planks, steam-bending frames, mountains of little rivets, caulking . . . It was, in its original lapstrake version, designed to be built in between big yacht jobs by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, the number one high-class yacht builders of 100 years ago. It's hard to imagine a more complex boat of that type.

There are hundreds, if not thousands of designs that would be better for amateur construction, including the Shellback and Nutshell by Joel White. Almost any other method of construction (taped-seam, plywood lapstrake, strip planking, even traditional lapstrake) would be easier for an amateur than light carvel planking with steamed frames. If you are really enamored of 19th century construction using real wood, metal fasteners and no modern adhesives (and I certainly can see why one might be), check out Richard Kolin's books, Traditional Boatbuilding Made Easy. "Building Heidi" takes you through the construction of a very nice traditional flatiron skiff, and "Building Catherine" shows a lapstrake Whitehall. The WB Store has both.

http://www.woodenboatstore.com/store/images/325103.JPG