Few people have done more than Sam Devlin to popularize wooden boatbuilding. For the past 15 years he has been. Why is stitch-and-glue boatbuilding so popular? Any number of construction methods will produce a beautiful boat. But for the backyard builder with limited experience and a tight budget, the choice is not so complicated. Traditional plank-on-frame and cold-molded construction require complicated lofting and building molds - to say nothing of expensive tooling and lots of time. Stitch-and-glue construction, on the other hand, can produce the same results with a substantial savings in time and money. The process is quicker, easier, uses fewer parts, and produces a boat that is much easier to maintain - without the building molds and with only the simplest lofting. For tools, you need little more than a circular saw, a sander/polisher/grinder, a block plane, a framing square, a level, and a tape measure.Sam Devlin has elevated stitch-and-glue boatbuilding to an artform, and his graceful designs have attracted the attention of backyard builders across the country. Here is all you need to know to build the boat of your dreams, whether it's a 7-foot dinghy or a 40-foot power cruiser. "Devlin's Boatbuilding: How to Build Any Boat the Stitch-and-Glue Way" shares the wisdom of his 16 years of experience designing, building, and helping others build his fleet of small sail- and powerboats.

Table of Contents

Dedication Introduction: The Magic of Boats Chapter 1. The Advantages of Stitch-and-Glue Boatbuilding Chapter 2. Setting Up Shop Chapter 3. Selecting a Suitable Design Chapter 4. Selecting Marine Plywood and Dimensional Lumber Chapter 5. Epoxy Systems Chapter 6. Fiberglass Cloth and Tape Chapter 7. Scarfing Chapter 8. Lofting Chapter 9. Modeling Chapter 10. Scantlings Chapter 11. Building Cradles Chapter 12. Stitching Up the Hull Chapter 13. Bulkheads, Clamps, and Floor Timbers Chapter 14. Filleting and Glassing Plywood Joints Chapter 15. Rolling Over the Hull Chapter 16. Removing Wires Chapter 17. Cold Molding the Stitch-and-Glue Hull Chapter 18. Keels, Rudders, Skegs, and Other Appendages Chapter 19. Sheathing the Exterior Chapter 20. Sanding and Fairing Chapter 21. Marking the Waterline and Painting the Bottom Chapter 22. Righting the Hull Chapter 23. Interior Structures Chapter 24. Painting Chapter 25. Exterior Trim and Hardware Chapter 26. Propulsion Chapter 27. Launching Chapter 28. Repairs Appendices A. Devlin's Designs B. List of Suppliers Index

About the Author

Sam Devlin has been in love with boats since childhood--a fact perhaps influenced by his first bedroom, a ship replica complete with curved walls and a seaberth. The boatbuilding operation he started with his wife on a shoestring in 1977 has flourished, and Devlin Designing Boat Builders each year rolls out between 20 and 40 stitch-and-glue boats of various sizes from its shop on the shores of Puget Sound.