DAYDREAM
Above: bronze
fi ttings sourced
from other boats.
Below: Uf a Fox’s
book, which
includes
Shepherd’s linesM
uch of my life has been spent in the
pursuit and construction of design
elegance: houses, home interiors,
furniture, cabinetry, and small boats.
I have owned and sailed wooden
boats all my life. In my sixties, when I realized I had the
time, I began to look for a suitable classic sailing vessel
to build or restore. As a lifetime woodworker the boat
had to be wood, it had to be elegant in form (probably
from the 1930s or before) and it had to be unique. I
thought about restoring a classic, and found several
worthy candidates. But replacing tired wood was not
nearly as appealing as fi tting new. It was then that in
Uffa Fox’s excellent Sailing, Seamanship and Yacht
Construction I came across the lines of Crystal, a 30ft
6in Fred Shepherd-designed cruising yawl built in 1929.
She had the spoon bow and long overhanging transom
typical of Shepherd’s work. She was also a heavy
displacement yacht, again characteristic of Shepherd.
Her displacement meant she would have just enough
room below for a complete and comfortable interior,
and she would need a large and majestic rig to drive
her. This suited me just fi ne, as I know of no greater joy
than sailing at speed under a cloud of canvas.
With luck and perseverance I knew I could create a
beautiful, one of a kind boat.
The fi rst concern was tweaking the hull profi le a bit
to satisfy my own aesthetic. Several whole hull models
were carved, slight progressive changes being made to
each. The sheerline received particular interest, as I
believe this determines the character of a vessel more
than any other single factor. In the end the stern was
kicked up just a bit, the bow lowered a few inches and a
bit of knuckle was taken out of the stem.
My next effort went toward designing a cabin that
would complement rather than overwhelm the hull.
Shepherd’s design called for a very narrow 2ft 9in cabin,
but Crystal (christened Crystal II) was built with a much
wider cabin, too high and bulky for my taste. I
experimented with fi ve or six different cabins, placed on
my model, until I came up with one that I felt worked.
The fi nal version stopped short of the mast, was narrowenough to provide wide side decks, yet provided an
adequate feeling of space below. Headroom is a bit less
than the original, with 6ft plus under the main hatch (the
galley and navigation area), and my height (5ft 9½in)
further forward.
Construction was traditional plank on frame, and was
everything I had hoped for. What wooden boat nut/
woodworker has not dreamed of bolting together and
setting up a sturdy backbone, extracting straight-grained
oak from the steambox and bending it to ribbands,
dovetailing a skylight together? And what a pleasure it
was to experience the smell, heft and texture of the
different woods as the boat came together! Angelique
was used for the backbone and fl oor timbers, straight-
grained white oak from Connecticut for the frames,
mahogany for the garboards and sheer strake. Planking
was clear, aromatic Atlantic white cedar from South
Carolina. The sheer clamps, bilge stringers and bowsprit
were fi r, the deck structures teak, the spars straight-
grained Maine spruce, while the interior paneling and
ceiling was eastern white pine to keep the inside light. A
storm blew over many large black locust trees in my
local area here in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, which I was
able to harvest. The heart must be avoided but otherwise
it is said around here that black locust lasts one year less
than a stone. The grain of this wood often takes a
graceful curve, and provided deck beams, stem and tiller.
What fun it was fi tting deck beam patterns over rough
cut locust, matching grain to pattern.
I was able to stiffen the boat considerably by scarfi ng
the planking full-length, thereby eliminating weak and
rot-prone butt blocks. Hull-stiffening plywood
bulkheads in several locations are hidden behind tongue
and groove paneling. The sheer clamps are fi rmly
fastened to stem and transom. The deck consists of two
¼in layers of marine ply. Dynel set in epoxy over the
plywood looks and feels like canvas, but prevents leaks,
needs no maintenance and will not need replacing. The
mainmast and main boom are hollow, using the
relatively recently discovered birdsmouth technique.
Half the joy of construction was solving the many
problems that cropped up. Perhaps almost as much