Building the Nutshell Pram.
There are a couple of Nutshell's designs out there, but this one was designed by Joel White. The plans are sold by Wooden Boat Magazine (WB) for $75 - rather pricey in my view, but then it is a nice design. There is a building manual $7.95 by Maynard Bray which is quite adequate and detailed enough, to get you though the building process whatever your skill level. There is the 7'7" version I built or a longer 9' 6" version. I would recommend the longer version for rowing or sailing, but if like me, the pram is to be your sailboat tender, and must stow on the cabintop, then the 7'7" version will be adequate.
This was the first time I have ever built anything in inches and fractions thereof, and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed working with this measurement system. The plans were detailed enough and easy to follow. For me, the tricky part was to figure out the American wood measurement system - 1" thick wood is actually 3/4" when purchased planed on two sides for instance, and it's sold in board feet etc.. A friendly guy at the woodshop was patient enough to explain it to me - several times. You know, I have to admit building this boat was just great fun - I plain enjoyed working with wood for a change.
My Nutshell pram is built in 3/8" and 1/4" Okume marine plywood, with laminated American white-oak for the frames, light 1" (3/4" planed) red cedar for the seats and Honduran mahogany for the keelson and rub-rail. The hull is a simple multichine designed pram with the chines epoxied along a simple lap joint. Fixing is done with bronze screws ($35 from WB) Although I added two strips of 9 ounce x 3" glass fiber tape to improve wear on the bottom chine, the boat does not require glassing at all. I saturated the wood wood with a single generous coat of West System epoxy, sanded and washed the hull and then applied three coats of Epifanes gloss varnish, unthinned The finished weight is 62lbs. without oars.
Build time including finishing was about 60 hours. However, to that I must add an additional 14 hours, work as I did rip the oak into 1/8" strips for the frames by hand, using a Japanese pull saw. I needed the practice! ............ and the very fine kerf on the Ryoba-Noko minimized waste. It's hard to simply run such lovely hard wood though a table saw, turning 1/2 of a plank to sawdust. Oh ....... it was fun learning new tool techniques. I can highly recommend "Japanese Woodworking Tools - their tradition spirit & use", by Toshio Odate (Linden Publishing - ISBN - 0-941936-46-5). I have no doubt that I will put my new skills to work when I get around to fitting out the Van de Stadt's interior.
The hull almost done and ready for finishing.
Lacing on oar-leathers.
Lacing on oar-leathers.
The finished product
The Nutshell pram get's its very first wetting. With my 195 lb. butt on the front rowing seat, it trims down a little at the bow but remains quite rowable and stable. Plenty of space there for a couple of dogs or the shopping!
The waterline trim rowed by myself or with Ingrid rowing from the front seat, is perfect. Short prams are not generally easy to row - lacking directional stability, but this design, with it's long keelson, does a better job than several production 9'+ dinghies I have used. The 6'6" oars are perfect for the boat.
If we smile any wider someone is going to get hurt.
Ahhh.............. a perfect end to a perfect day. Spring and Lake Ontario at its best. The water temperature though was 38F, so its important to stay "on it and not in it ". Cold water is something to be taken very seriously into account when messing about in little boats. It kills boaters every year, in these parts.
My thanks to my neighbor, Dave Murphy for snapping three of these pictures with his digital camera. He certainly caught the mood, I think you will agree.