Shelter Island Boat Works

As it is WAY too cold …

to work in the garage I thought I would make a half hull of the Coquina. Using the lines drawing I cut out “lifts,” (cross sections parallel to the water line) every three inches up the hull. The scale would be 1′ = 1″ so each lift in the model was 1/4″. I used solid mahogany with a white oak water line.

It went quite quickly. Just glued up the stack of lifts and planed and sanded down to the lift lines.

The tedious part was varnishing. I think I did about 14 coats to get it perfectly flat, no grain showing.

The backing board was a piece of mahogany ply with a solid edging, all varnished.

Seeing the hull at this scale was an eye opener. It is gorgeous! When I was working on the hull in the garage it was so tight I was never able to step back far enough to get a good look at her. Looking at the lines on paper helps to understand the hull shape but to see it in 3 dimensions is a whole ‘nother experience.

It looks like it will be quite fast. Fine entry, slightly flat bottom, faired smoothly amidship with a rounded bilge, and tapering toward the stern a bit flat. The transom is to die for. Herreshoff was known to use many planks in his lapstrake boats. His Coquina has twelve. This makes her shape very smooth as it fairs itself up to that beautiful shear. He certainly was a master!

Fits nicely over the kitchen door.