Second Boat Build, First Cedar Strip Boat

I finally got started on my cedar strip boat this last week. Putting all these strips together is slow and will take a lot longer to build than my first plywood boat. I will try and keep you posted with the build as more gets done. I am building a big guy 3 panel fishing boat out of 1 inch cedar strips. The boat will be 16.5 foot x 31.5 inches at the sheer with a bottom width of 26 inches. The sides will be 10 inches high with a 75 degree flare. It will have approximately 4 foot stripped decks with around 8.5 foot of open cockpit if I am able to complete it. I am making the panels out of the cedar strips and will then build it in the stitch and glue style of boat construction.

I hope the reduction in weight and the beauty of the cedar strips are worth it. The time and effort to glue all the strips into useable panels is unreal. I really am not set up to do this and I am trying to glue everything up on temporary tables I made. Since I do not have a shop I am doing this under the shade trees on the side of the house. Not the best of facilities but I am determined to build at least one cedar strip boat where I am right now.

I learned an important lesson today. Do not get sloppy with the carpenter’s glue. Due to the heat and my glue drying so fast I got sloppy and thought I would just sand the glue off in the sanding stage. It was not a good idea as the glue does not want to sand off and is causing me problems. I will be much more glue aware on the next boat.

I spent the day today sanding both sides of the two side panels of the boat. I started with a belt sander and 80 grit then went to an orbital sander with 60 grit. I finished the sides off with the orbital sander and 120 grit sandpaper. I put a saturation coat of epoxy on the outside and got to see a glimpse of what the cedar will look like when I glass it. It does look pretty so if I finish the boat it should be a looker. Go do something you always wanted to do, you might surprise yourself.

I sure have, Wild Ed