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The Workbench
See what home boat builders are working on right now.
Work on boats that have already been in the water.
Launched Boats
Build Update Hull
Marla Hooch Power Dinghy
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…
Build Update Hull
Marla Hooch Power Dinghy
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…
Build Update Launch Day
AWOOGA Candu E-Z
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…
Build Update Fiberglass
AWOOGA Candu E-Z
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…
Build Update Frames
AWOOGA Candu E-Z
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…
Build Update Mechanical
AWOOGA Candu E-Z
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…
Build Update Fiberglass
AWOOGA Candu E-Z
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…
Build Update Deck
AWOOGA Candu E-Z
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…
Build Update Fiberglass
AWOOGA Candu E-Z
Keel sealed and bottom protected
The keel cavity received flotation foam, then the keel and side keels were closed, sealed, faired, and glassed. Sanding the cured cloth was not a favorite job. I also coated the underside with three coats of truck bed liner for extra…
Build Update Interior
AWOOGA Candu E-Z
October 2024 - Cockpit seating and motor cover
The build gallery records this work from October through December 2024; the individual workdays were not retained. I built the aft cockpit seating over the gas-tank space and shaped a cover around the motor well. The fit-out turned the…
Build Update Launch Preparation
AWOOGA Candu E-Z
April 2025 - The launch list gets shorter
The build gallery records this final push to April 2025; the individual workdays were not retained. Window and door frames went in, the vinyl cabin floor was laid, the name decals and registration plate were installed, and St. Brendan the…
Keep Looking
Three ways round the fleet
This page is the work, in the order it was done. The other two are the boats it is being done to, and everything else that has happened.
Your Bench
Nobody sees the work unless you write it down
A boat can be entered in the registry the day the plans arrive. Add an entry when you have done an afternoon's work, and it appears here.