Here is the story of the building of MY Skerry boat "Cricket". It's a 15 feet sailing dinghy called a SKERRY. It it is rigged with a squarish sail called a sprit sail. It can also be easily rowed.

It is built using the stitch and glue method of boatbuilding. Plywood pieces are cut out and stitched with wire. The seams are then glued with thickened epoxy to make a strong bond.

Since I'm not much of a sailor, and have never built a boat I'm talking from a position of great ignorance but that's never stopped me before.

Fortunately for me I had most of the tools I needed (surprisingly few for this project) and a goodly ability to wing it. Space is of course always a problem. I could built it in the basement but never get it out. The garage is a good size but Toronto in winter is cold so the epoxy simply would not cure. The back yard was under 3 feet of snow. Obviously that left the living room.

I ordered the plans and instructions. I also ordered plywood and epoxy but had to wait about 3 weeks. I don't suppose marine plywood is a big seller in January, in Toronto. Most people have built their Skerries from kits but I wanted the experience of a complete build so I ordered plans. Looking back this added a lot of time and there was not real financial advantage. I can say that I built it all though and I think this was important.

This is the picture of a Skerry boat. It is based on Scandinavian Faerings. It is a plywood adaptation. It is very pretty and can be sailed by one or 2 people. Since I will mostly be sailing by myself, being able to move it by myself is a requirement and at 100 pounds this is possible. It can also be rowed and tolerates reasonable waves. The square sail is easy for one person to handle and the boat is not tippy.

The Skerry from a photo at the Chesapeake Light Craft website

John Harris the Skerry Designer wrote this after the Skerry had been around for about 5 years Skerry Article

[HOME] [BOATS AND BOAT RELATED ARTICLES] [BOATBUILDING LINKS AND RESOURCES]

emails: Christine

This web site reflects my personal ideas and doesn't represent anyone else's point of view.