Large dot positions were determined from the mold plans and small dots represented, as close to a fair curve as the line would allow. This represents the DWL shown on the plans.

The bottom paint is Interlux Brightside, color is Seattle Gray. Color variations in photos due to light in boat shop. The building of the boat is more or less mechanical, laying out the waterline is definately a leap of faith.

The planks lay fair without hard spots, so the molds must be correct and make laying up much easier. My thanks to Hewes & Co. and your partners overseas Jourdan Boats. We plan on having a turnover party as soon as I can get a second coat on the bottom and two coats on the topsides. Plan to use Sea Green as a topside color. The sheer plank will be finished bright, as will the rails.

After seeing this picture in the Wooden Boat Magazine and the article that followed, I decided I would like to build one of these boats. Come to find out a friend of mine, Glen, owns one of these boats and raves about it. The die was cast.

Lori and I drove from Upstate New York to Mystic CT for the Wooden Boat Show and spoke to the designer in person and saw several examples of other people's builds using his Caledonia design.

What started out as a gee - I'd like one of those, has turned into a labor of love, a couple of new power tools and buckets of wood shavings. The pictures on the blog at this time show various stages from scratch to completed building form, installation of fore and aft aprons (stems) and the hog (keelson). The first two planks are soon to be attached to the building frame. More to follow... Thanks for your interest

The building form needed to be true fore and aft and side to side




the bending jib for the laminated apron and stem

the gluing process is always a bit messy


A boat builder cannot own, beg or borrow too many clamps

All these lines have a direct bearing on the final outcome - I wonder what they mean?

Please note writing on my shirt, plug for Florida Gulfcoast Small Craft Association - and Roger moved to Buffalo??




The little stick in the left hand picture has a lot to say, true or not. Looking aft, all molds in a row

All edges of the molds have been covered with packing tape to prevent sticking to the planking.

Friday morning after getting our rental car, we drove to Milford. When we arrived Grant and Gail were there to greet us. We went to dinner (Clay and I had lobster, yummy!). Richard Stanco met us in the morning and we went together to Mystic. It was a very nice show, but I think Clay had the best time. He's found a boat that he wants to build when we get back to Naples and not only were there several boats there but the designer was the guest of honor. Clay spent time with different builders getting ideas and got to spend some time with the designer. The Caledonia Yawl is in Clay's future plans. We walked, walked, talked and walked the entire day. We had purchased tickets to attend a seaside barbeque with the designer as the guest speaker. It was getting close to dinner time, so I suggested I take some of our things to the car so we didn't have to carry them. Good idea Lori - so off I trudged to the parking lot. I walked to where I thought we parked...., uh oh... no car. When we arrived the lot had just filled and the attendant told us to park next to the curb. My first thought was that it was towed. I asked the attendant (who just came on duty) and he didn't know, but called on his radio to security. They said no cars had been towed today. He suggested I look in the other parking lots, maybe I didn't remember where we had parked. As I was headed out, I thought to myself, this is definately where we parked. I called Clay on the cellphone and told him I lost the car. He and Richard came out and we went through the whole thing again with the parking attendant. Clay and Richard both felt that the car was left in the same spot I thought. After deliberations with the attendant and security, it was decided that the car must have been stolen! The police were called. The first thing he asked was did we check the other lots - this happens a half dozen times a year. He asked one of us to go with him to look for the car, Richard hopped in the back of the cruiser, thanking the officer for being so thorough, but he was sure that we knew where we parked. After not finding anything in the other lots, the cruiser came back to our lot and proceeded going up and down the aisles. He pointed to a car and asked Richard, doesn't that look like your car? Oh my, how embarassing!!! The car was two aisles from where we were standing! Talk about total humilation. I felt better knowing that Clay and Rich also joined me in the embarassment. The officer was very kind and didn't rub it in. So we went to the dinner with our faces a little red.

Sunday morning we went to breakfast with Grant & Gail. Before we left I through the linens in the wash. When we got back in the house I heard a hissing noise - it was a leaking pipe. Looking on the bright side, at least we found it while we were there. So the plumbers (Clay & Grant) got out the tools and had it fixed in jiffy. Then Clay was going under the house to turn the water on and the door to the basement broke. A trip to Home Depot for some screws and it's in working order again. Now this delayed our trip back to the boat. It's a six hour trip, it was 6:30 p.m. before we got on the road. Clay drove while I slept (two hour nap). About 10:30 we stopped for fuel. While Clay did that, I decided to clean out the kitty litter. I didn't notice until it was too late, that PT was in the back window. As I was bending over he jumped on my back and out of the car. As he hit the pavement a semi truck flew by and hit his air brakes... PT took off like a jack rabbit. I chased him along a fence going down the highway. The traffic noise was really bad and he was really scared. He disappeared in the darkness. We walked up and down but could not find any sign of him. We finally got a room for the night and came back at 5:30 a.m. shaking food and calling him. Unfortunately we could not find him. It was really had to leave without him. Poor Bailey doesn't know what to do, he keeps looking for him. We hope that someone will find him and take good care of him. He was a very special little guy.