Zakendragger - a Redwing 21 Pilothouse
by Ralph Cohen
Launch day minus a couple of months…
Since I was a kid, I always wanted to build a boat. In the 60’s, my Dad used to take me to the Boat Show and I’d go through all the classy yachts and collect free info to pour over. Flash forward 40 years…I’m enrolled in Wooden Boat School in Brooklin, Maine (aka Geeser’s Camp) for a two week Basic Boatbuilding Class. That and some cabinet making classes at the Oregon College of Arts and Crafts and I’m good to go.
I picked a Redwing 21 Pilothouse (Ken Stambaugh design) for its minimal draft (1.5 feet), ease of construction (skiff, hard chines, plywood, glue and screw), all-weather design, looks, size/weight (~2000 lbs), and fuel efficiency (~1/2 gal/hour). It impressed me as a good all-around gunk-holer. I’ve sailed on the Columbia enough to know the downside of a sail-boat.
It’s been about seven years in the offing – probably close to 2000 hours (stopped counting at 1000). A few more details of construction:
-Southern Yellow Pine or Honduras mahogony frames
-Douglas fir keel, chines, and beams
-Okume plywood bronze fastened to frames – ½” hull/deck and 1” bottom
-Dynel deck
-Epoxy and glass over hull, epoxy over cabin
-AC and DC electrical with charger and depth finder
-21 gallon water tank, 12 gallon fuel tank
-2 burner Origo pressure-less alcohol stove, sink/foot pump
-20 hp Honda in a well
Hard chine boats may be easier to build than steamed frame and planked boats but there’s still a lot of work to it – nothing but compound angles to cut and everything still has to be made fair before attaching plywood. I think being an engineer helped me solve the myriad of technical problems I encountered – from scarfing jigs to grounding to designing the self-draining cockpit to adding a third berth that would be isolated from the fuel tank compartment – the drawings lack a lot of details!
Since I was a kid, I always wanted to build a boat. In the 60’s, my Dad used to take me to the Boat Show and I’d go through all the classy yachts and collect free info to pour over. Flash forward 40 years…I’m enrolled in Wooden Boat School in Brooklin, Maine (aka Geeser’s Camp) for a two week Basic Boatbuilding Class. That and some cabinet making classes at the Oregon College of Arts and Crafts and I’m good to go.
I picked a Redwing 21 Pilothouse (Ken Stambaugh design) for its minimal draft (1.5 feet), ease of construction (skiff, hard chines, plywood, glue and screw), all-weather design, looks, size/weight (~2000 lbs), and fuel efficiency (~1/2 gal/hour). It impressed me as a good all-around gunk-holer. I’ve sailed on the Columbia enough to know the downside of a sail-boat.
It’s been about seven years in the offing – probably close to 2000 hours (stopped counting at 1000). A few more details of construction:
-Southern Yellow Pine or Honduras mahogony frames
-Douglas fir keel, chines, and beams
-Okume plywood bronze fastened to frames – ½” hull/deck and 1” bottom
-Dynel deck
-Epoxy and glass over hull, epoxy over cabin
-AC and DC electrical with charger and depth finder
-21 gallon water tank, 12 gallon fuel tank
-2 burner Origo pressure-less alcohol stove, sink/foot pump
-20 hp Honda in a well
Hard chine boats may be easier to build than steamed frame and planked boats but there’s still a lot of work to it – nothing but compound angles to cut and everything still has to be made fair before attaching plywood. I think being an engineer helped me solve the myriad of technical problems I encountered – from scarfing jigs to grounding to designing the self-draining cockpit to adding a third berth that would be isolated from the fuel tank compartment – the drawings lack a lot of details!