Odo goes to Fretwater Boatworks
Life got busy again and I worked sporadically on the remaining ledgers and framing for the next few months. Then, in January I had the great opportunity to work with the awesome folks at Fretwater Boatworks, the local boat shop in Flagstaff that builds dories for commercial Grand Canyon outfitters and private boaters alike.
Brad, Cricket, Glade, and the rest of the crew at Fretwater are incredible and I'm so thankful I got the opportunity to learn from and get to know them!
january, 2022
the gunwales; steamed and learning their new shape
steaming the gunwales
The first thing we did was to get the gunwales milled, scarfed, steamed, and shaped. This was important because the gunnels can change the shape of the boat slightly, so it's important to get them clamped on or installed prior to screwing in the decking to avoid cracking.
finishing the hatch framing
With Brad's help, the hatch framing was finished with the gutters installed and everything ready for decking.
finishing up the framing on the side hatches, the gutters show where the hatch lids will go
installing the decking & cutting the hatch lids
Learning how to cut the decking was very satisfying! There's so many little tricks that make complex cuts simple such as storyboarding, a method for mapping out points and on a curve on the boat and then translating that onto your plywood piece.
I used 3/8" ply for the deck; photo above of the center hatch decking
the front decking installed & hatch lid cut
(almost) all of the deck pieces cut