Small Lapstrake boat

[Alan Peck]

I think this question may have been answered before, but I could not find it.

Does anyone know what the boat is pictured on the front jacket of "Building Small Boats" by Greg Rossel? Are there plans available?

Thanks for any input

[Alan Peck]

Well that was a dumb question, right after I made the post, I figured out that all I had to do was search under "Greg Rossel". sounds like plans are not available.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a similar boat? Doesn't make much practical sense I guess, but I would really like to build a traditionally constructed lapstake boat. One feature that I need in the shallow waters in my area, is a centerboard rather than a daggerboard.

Thanks for any thoughts.

[ken mcclure]

Whew. There are only about 250,000 small boat designs that will fit your description.

Start by looking in the WB boat plans section. Look at Iain Oughtred's designs. Some you can see at Duckflat Wooden Boats (http://www.duckflat-woodenboats.com.au).

Check out John Gardner's books - there are many in there.

I'd bet that you'll get a WHOLE bunch more options in reply to your post. Look at all of 'em. They're all beautiful!

[holzbt]

Mystic Seaport sells plans for quite a few whitehalls and similar types. Some have rigs and centerboards.

[Ben Fuller]

Think about size: how many do you routinely carry about? Do you like to row? Do you want a transom or double ender? Daggerboard issue is generally not one: think about all the Sunfish etc. that are out there. Daggerboards for small stuff tend not to be more than 18 inches. So that should not cut into your options. Will you be trailing? A mooring? Undercover storage?

Once you have some of these questions undercontrol, your search gets more reasonable.

[Bayboat]

Alan: Tom Jackson answered your question back in July, 2000. The boat on Rossel's cover is a 12' Whitehall built by Dick Shew and Cecil Burnham.
No plans are available. As said above, there are many plans available for similar boats.

[Bruce Hooke]

I'm sure Alan already knows this but I just wanted to note that in parts of Florida 18" can be downright deep draft and most daggerboards that I have seen are a bit more than 18".

The kick-up daggerboard discussed in WoodenBoat recently might be one solution but in parts of Florida that still might be too limiting.

[Alan Peck]

Bruce, you are absolutely right and its not just the Gulf of Mexico. There are many suprisingly large lakes in Florida where the deep part might be only eight feet with widely scattered shallow areas that might be only two feet (or less) deep.

Many times you can see these areas in advance, but often you can't, depending on the lighting conditions.

[Bruce Hooke]

Where it really 'hit' me was when I was down in the keys in a 23 foot sailboat with 3' 8" draft. As long as the bottom is soft and the seas calm I am not afraid to sail with less than a foot of water under the keel, but most of the 800 square miles or so of Florida Bay was 'off limits' to me since the average depth of the whole area is probably under 3'...Kind of shocking to someone who grew up in Maine waters, where you can find places where the water is 100' deep within a 100 yards or less of dry land!

[holzbt]

Well they are not lapstrake but, look at the chesapeake crabbing skiffs. Chappelle has some in American Small Sailing Craft and in his crabbing skiffs pamphlet. Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum also has some boats and plans. These are some of the best sailing boats that you will ever find for extremely shoal waters. I've sailed three different models and all were able to sail to windward in no more than 12" of water. Many other shoal draft boats can float or possibly run in very shoal water but few can actually sail to windward without their boards down as these crabbing skiffs can.