The leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1895-1905, 1895-08-20

sh>rpss With csaserboard.
The amateur boat builder and che
fast sailing boat are two poles rather
far apart. hut IS there can be no harm
In trying an experiment which may
after several essays bring success. hero
are the directions as clearly as can be
given in black and white
The easiest and fastest boat to build
Is modification of the ''Slxip Jack, /" or
sharpie. The dimensions should be:
Length over all n feet. greatest beam
(which should be placed at IL feet for
ward) 4 feet Q inches; the sail yard or
boom should be Is feet long and che
mast 10 feet 6 inches, stepped Is inches
from the stem.
This boat viii have mean depth
from gunwale to keel of about "a inches.
The keel should be Of oak, 10 inches
wide and IL inches thick, the side
planks being Is inches wide and u of
an inch thick, IS feet long.
Lay the keel on its broad side on two
carpenters horses, and brace II by
blocks to.hold it firm, and then proceed
as If to make rowboat.
4hOIttCC Oll W ttlC hCCl tllc SttlIs WnlCD
should be of oak. cut out of a ''l<nee"
and Tapped on to the keel, strength
ening it by inside braces of deadwood.
Then make three temporary frames
of 1-inch pine and nail them at the
greatest beam and other equal dis
tances toward the stern, marking on
each the middle line of the boat to cor
respond with center of keel.
Hold these in place by strip of wood
nailed from the stem to the stern piece,
which latter should be of 2-inch oak
cut into the accepted shape for boats
stern. Then start the planking process,
which Is where the test of ability comes
In.
Mark off on the stem, the three molds,
and the stern, the number of planlss
which must be used to raise the sides
the 81 inches from the keel, and then
take them one by one and grade their
width in the proportion required to ft
snug, which win leave them narrowest
at the stem. widest amidships, and
again tapering at the stem.
Take the first plank and fit it into a
groove made in the keel, then nail it to
stem and stern, following with another
plank which should be closely morticed
into the first one; then another and an
other, gradually sloping them upward
round the curve of the frame molds, SO
that the curve should be gradual like
the rounded bottom of bowl
A very little practical knowledge
will be sufficient for person of ordi
nary ability to shape the planks to fit.
Continue in this manner until the
height of the ''gunnel" is reached, and
then commence to put in the ribs.
These should be of inch-square oak,
steamed to the shape required, and
these should be placed inside the boat
and each plank carefully frightened in
the mortices and then nailed with cop
per nails to them. The shell is then
complete.
Nail a narrow strip along each side
just where the upward curve of the
bottom commences, and put in the
flooring. leaving space for the center.
board, the slot for which should be cut
in tho keel, and the walls or trunk
built of two-inch square oak uprights
and half-inch planks, the trunk ris-
ing to trifle lower than the gunwale
streak.
The centerboard should be of one
and-one-half-inch or two-inch oak, with
a maximum depth of thirty inches, and
care should be taken to have the hole