Shellback Dinghy

A 11' 2" plywood lapstrake dinghy for row and sail. Design by Joel White. WoodenBoat plan 400-109. Photograph taken at Lake Buchanan near Tow, Texas May 2000.

Before buying the blueprint, I purchased the book How to Build the Shellback Dinghy from the Woodenboat Store. The book shows Eric Dow building a Shellback from start to finish. Every step, every photograph is captioned. After reading the how-to-build book a couple times, I decided to get the blueprint and build it.

The stem (left) and mid-ship frame (right) are laminated of 1/8" strips of Douglas fir, glued with epoxy and clamped to forms to dry.

This is the building jig with the stem, midship frame, transom, and three temporary plywood forms in between. Take care that your plywood planks lay fair along the length of the boat. My dinghy has hard spots in the way of the forms.

February 5, 2000: The planking is underway using exterior grade, Douglas fir plywood. The transom is 3/4", the bottom is 1/2", and the sides are 1/4". The plywood parts are longer than 8 feet, so I scarfed and glued pieces of plywood to get the desired length. A word about fir plywood: Fir plywood will check unless you apply a layer fiberglass cloth set in epoxy, both sides. I waited until after assembly to apply the fiberglass cloth. In hindsight, I would consider applying the fiberglass cloth after scarfing, before cutting the panels to shape.

February 13, 2000: Popped the boat off the building frame.

April 23, 2000: To finish up, I installed the stern knees, breasthook, and rails made of mahogany.

The how-to-build book has a good discussion on home-made oars and spars. Spars and oars are glued up from construction-grade 2x4s chosen for the best grain and lightest weight.

The boat has an inner and outer mahogany rail with spacer blocks (suggesting oak frames). The seats are 1" thick cedar. The front seat is the mast partner, with a mast step on the floor of the boat.

I named the boat Porter Belle for my paternal grandmother Grace Porter.