Gloucester Gull

[David W Pratt]

Will probably be trying one of these for a Winter project.
Does any one have advice, warnings, tips, etc?
Thanks in advance.

[JimConlin]

It's been on my list, too.
I'd figured that if i used composite chines and glassed the bottom well in & out, I could get away with fir plywood for the bottom.

[Thorne]

They are reputedly pretty tender and really a one-person craft. That said, for a quick build and fast rowing it sounds pretty ideal -

http://personal.eunet.fi/pp/gsahv/glouc/glouc.htm
http://personal.eunet.fi/pp/gsahv/glouc/glouc10.jpg

[JimD]

It would be near the bottom of my list. Why this boat if I may ask?

[Todd Bradshaw]

Maybe because they have gorgeous lines and are really fun and responsive to row, as well as pretty seaworthy. They are a bit tender when you first step into one, but the seat is fairly low and once you're in the seated position the stability is fine. Yes, it's a rowboat and you're pointed the wrong direction, but the boat seems to have a fair bit of that kayak-style intimacy, which is unusual for a rowboat and was something I enjoyed. It's not as multi-purpose as many small boats, but I can't imagine owning one and not really enjoying having it.

[JimD]

Georgeous, fun, responsive, intimate. I can go with that. Guess it's the pointed the wrong way thing that I have trouble wrapping the head around, literally.

[Rob Hazard]

Having built and owned Bolger's Type 5 dory, the double-ender in "Small Boats", I would recommend that you consider instead a rowing-only version of the Sweet Pea.
The knuckle in the sides will give a friendlier stability curve, and I'll bet it's not much more hassle to put together.

Don't get me wrong, I loved that dory. Owned it for about 10 years, carrying it around like a canoe on my pickup. When I bought a minivan, though, it was too heavy at 112 lbs to get on the roof singlehanded. So I sold it to a guy from Plymouth, who still uses it for fishing.

[Todd Bradshaw]

The standard construction scantlings in the Payson book do seem rather heavy-duty for the kind of use that most people probably give them. The boat I tried was built to them (3/8" fir ply sides and 1/2" fir ply bottom) and very stiff (meaning rigid, rather than stable). I'd be willing to bet that you could employ some lighter materials and come close to cutting the weight in half as long as you were willing to avoid really abusing the boat when beaching.

[Rob Hazard]

I don't know what the boat would weigh if built to Payson's scantlings.

I built mine with 1/4" Okoume sides and 3/8" Fir bottom. The solid stock (frames, chines, gunwales, and stems) were mahogany or fir, just what I had on hand at the time.
I glassed the bottom and stems with 6 or 8 oz glass in epoxy, and added styrofoam under the end decks for positive floatation.

I never abused the boat, but I did beach it routinely, and flipped it over every time I loaded it on the truck. Other than scratches, the boat was in good shape when I sold it, and the last photo I saw of it still showed the original paint job.

With some attention to detail, I bet you could build one at about 90 lbs and still have a rugged, useful boat.

[David W Pratt]

Very helpful.
Yes, it is not a logical boat, but logic applied to loved items leads only to madness.
I'm leaning toward the 14" sides, 3/8" bottom for lightness.
It'll prolly never leave the harbor.

[rbgarr]

My wife's ex-boyfriend rowed one from midcoast Maine to NYC one summer in the 70s when you could (sort of) do those kinds of things alongshore. He camped out on beaches of all kinds without raising complaints.

[JimD]

Very helpful.
Yes, it is not a logical boat, but logic applied to loved items leads only to madness.
I'm leaning toward the 14" sides, 3/8" bottom for lightness.
It'll prolly never leave the harbor.

Put a deck on it, sit in it backwards, and get a double bladed paddle. :D

[Dave Carnell]

That is how Bolger described the boat, but that wasn't my experience. I built mine stitch-and-glue of ¼" plywood. I had a rolling seat only a couple of imches high to get my weight down low. In any breeze the boat was completely unmanageable; I would be pulling 100% on one oar to keep it headed into the wind. When I suggested to Bolger that perhaps it was too light, he relpied that you couldn't make it too light. My thought is that perhaps a few hundred pounds of fish might have steadied it. I gave it away in frustration.

[Tom Jackson]

I chose 3/8" meranti plywood for both sides and bottom of mine, and I don't think I'd go any less. My boat is the Gloucester Light Dory that is on the cover of the upcoming "Small Boats" edition, and in my write-up I go into some detail about my take on the boat and its construction.

[JimConlin]

Sounds like an very good boat for the leisurely patrol of Wickford harbor.

[Ian McColgin]

I rowed one quite a bit a few winters ago and loved it. I made a moveable very low seat and added two sets of oarlocks about 6" ahead and 6"' abaft the planned - maybe a bit more as will explain below. Essentially foremost locks a bit abaft amidships so my weight was dead amidships. This meant that with be boat light she'd head into the wind slightly. The others allowed me to place may weight progressivly aft to settle her trim correctly for whatever I wanted to do with the wind or with the load.

I also added two more oar lock sets abaft and ahead of the set of three (5 sets in all) to allow for two people to row or one to row sitting foreward most and one a passenger in the stern.

With that much choise, I could row easily in all conditions. Were she mine, given my propensity to rough weather rowing, I'd have added high floatation bow and stern and some low floatation amidships by having a low centerline long straddle box to row from covering all five positions. This straddle box was to be small - maybe 4" high and 12" wide and about 4' long but that's 85# bouyancy right there except it was designed for stowage as well, so figure perhaps 60#. Coupled with about as much high bouyancy in bow and stern adding stability and maybe another 60# total practical lift to a swamped boat as much of the bow and stern should be out of the water, and you have something that even swamped could be rowed to shelter.

The Gull I rowed was 1/4" sides and 3/8" bottom - all together hefty enough.

Importantly, compared with another gull built along side this one, it was CPES sealed before painting, which made a huge difference in the durability of its finish and it's eventual lifespan.

The Glouster Gull is superb light row boat for one or two that can carry a camping load for one should you choose. It really comes into its own in open and semi-open water rowing, especially in winter, where you really want a boat you all but wear.

G'luck

[Frank E. Price]

Had one for many years and loved it. Only drawback is if you want to carry passengers or much cargo. Rows like a charm. You don't want to get sideways to a largish steep chop (will slop over the sides). Won't take much rough treatment. I would call it a very logical boat if you want a nice cheap and simple rowboat - quick to build. Considerably simpler than a Sweet Pea.

Frank