Hybird MF14
Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 9:29 pm
Our summer vacation fleet needs something that sails to complement the outboards, canoes and kayaks already on hand. So I’ve started building a Bateau.com MF14 Moonfish. The Moonfish is a tape-and-glue small plywood sailboat, similar to a Sunfish. The objective is to have her ready by this time next year.
She’ll be joining a fleet that features cedar strip-plank boats. That’s where the “hybrid” comes in. Instead of ply, this Moonfish will have cedar strip topsides and deck. I’ll be using versions of the strip building techniques described by Schade, Folsom and others for kayaks and canoes. Topsides and deck will be finished bright.
A few prior Moonfish builds have been well documented online here:
https://forums.bateau2.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=20214
Here:
https://forums.bateau2.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=58206
http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread. ... uild-in-UK
And there’s another underway here:
https://forums.bateau2.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=62869
I’m indebted to those builders for pre-answering many of my questions and offering lots of good ideas. Now I get to make my own mistakes, of which I’m sure there will be quite a few.
My sole prior experience in boatbuilding was a stitch-and-glue rowboat about 20 years ago. I’ve been planning this build since January, waiting for the weather to warm up and my daughter to get her stuff out of our garage. That’s given me plenty of time to overthink everything. This certainly won’t be the fastest or most economical way to build a Moonfish. But it’ll be fun! So here we go …
She’ll be joining a fleet that features cedar strip-plank boats. That’s where the “hybrid” comes in. Instead of ply, this Moonfish will have cedar strip topsides and deck. I’ll be using versions of the strip building techniques described by Schade, Folsom and others for kayaks and canoes. Topsides and deck will be finished bright.
A few prior Moonfish builds have been well documented online here:
https://forums.bateau2.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=20214
Here:
https://forums.bateau2.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=58206
http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread. ... uild-in-UK
And there’s another underway here:
https://forums.bateau2.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=62869
I’m indebted to those builders for pre-answering many of my questions and offering lots of good ideas. Now I get to make my own mistakes, of which I’m sure there will be quite a few.
My sole prior experience in boatbuilding was a stitch-and-glue rowboat about 20 years ago. I’ve been planning this build since January, waiting for the weather to warm up and my daughter to get her stuff out of our garage. That’s given me plenty of time to overthink everything. This certainly won’t be the fastest or most economical way to build a Moonfish. But it’ll be fun! So here we go …