Boatbuilding Project

"Sea Babe"

A Dream
I obtained the plans for the "Sea Babe" on the Internet. They seem to have been taken from the Boat Builder's Handbook circa 1950's. Having been intrigued by the size (15' length, 6'4" beam), a cabin, and classic shape, I decided to build it. Thankfully, my dad joined in on the project. I couldn't do it without him!

Laying Out Patterns
During the winter of 2003, we began by laying out the boat frames on poster board. We used a long piece of flexible 1/4" pine trim to establish the faring curves. We only did half of each frame because by flipping it over, you will get the mirror image, thus the complete frame when cut out of the lumber. Also, we did not include the extensions noted on the plans. This would result in too much waste of material. Instead, we would use 2x4's to achieve the required dimension. Next, we cut out the patterns and they sat until I could order the lumber. (N.B. Check to make sure all your measurements meet the design before cutting them out)

Cutting Frames and Assembly
In Spring, the lumber was ordered and picked up a couple of weeks later. May 2nd, we traced the patterns on the oak and fir...then used the Shopsmith bandsaw to cut them out.

After all of the pieces were cut out of the lumber and sanded, we assembled them by gluing (heavy duty exterior Liquid Nails), attaching gussets and nailing. The plans call for using galvanized roofing nails, but we noticed on the first one that they were splitting the oak. So instead, we used finishing nails. The nails are there to secure the frame until the glue dries. Screws will be inserted later. (N.B. Make sure you have plenty of clamps or you'll be hampered in your progress. We only had enough clamps to get two frames assembled per working day)

Assembled Frames	1	2	3	4	5	6	7