The Workbench

Getting the build shop ready

Getting a place to build setup

Gunwale

The cedar-strip dinghy begins to come to life in a crowded workshop, its rich wood grain glowing beneath the warm light. With the interior taking shape and a row of clamps holding the gunwale in place, the photo captures the satisfying…

The start

Work began on a still-unnamed cedar-strip dinghy, but a few months into the build, my daughter arrived and the project went into dry dock for a while. Eventually, I found my way back to it, adding one cedar strip at a time until the little…

Gunwale supports

Worked on forward gunwale supports. Working outside until heavy storms rolled in.

Fairing rub rail

Working on rub rails today, hull structure completed except rails and glassing. No work done on interior yet except glassing and tons of sanding. Start of project before even ordering plywood was 4/1/2026 No comments about April 1 please.

AWOOGA launches

Three years of garage work reached the ramp. After a launch ceremony, AWOOGA rolled off the trailer, floated on her lines, pushed away from the dock, and made a proper little tugboat wake under her own power. Mike, the builder of TooT TooT…

Bottom glassed and chine logs fitted

The rebuilt bottom was sealed and glassed successfully. I fitted and epoxied the chine logs, set the bulkhead bases, flipped the assembly to expose the water side, and finished it with two layers of fiberglass cloth and epoxy. Source…

Building the keel frame

Work moved to the keel and side keels. I built the keel frame, dry-fitted its plywood skins, and glassed the inside faces. The enclosed space would later be filled with foam for flotation before the skins were sealed for good. Source…

Cutting the motor well

This was the scariest cut of the build: opening the finished stern and bottom for the motor well. I laid it out, cut the hull, glassed the well components, and installed the assembly. Final trimming would wait until the outboard was…

Glassing the outside of the hull

The exterior received a sealing coat followed by two layers of fiberglass cloth. The port side behaved better than the starboard side, but both were wetted out, wrapped, and ready for the long cycle of fairing, sanding, primer, and paint…

Hull sides and deck structure

With the bottom on the trailer, the stem went in and the port and starboard hull sides were bonded to the chine logs and held by side and stern jigs. Deck shelves, stringers, the forward deck, and the beginnings of the rub rail made the…