Converting an O’Day Daysailer hull into a gunning float for big water

My decisions to build my different boats over the years have typically happened at the end of long fermentation processes.  While the uninformed bystander may believe that I jump in with reckless abandon, I know that the idea has been in gestation for months, years, even decades. My ideas about White~Wing have been kicking around in my head – and heart, of course – since my youth, but I did not think about actually building her until about a month ago (late September 2013).

I was on Long Island visiting my family, as I try to do every couple of months.  I spend a couple of days visiting, usually tackling a few simple chores for my Mom and brother Ted.  Whenever I can, I also try to visit a few friends, most of whom are of the waterfowling persuasion.  The September trip was a little out-of-the-ordinary because I knew there was a duckboat involved.  In fact, I hauled down my flatbed trailer to carry back north a 2-man scooter acquired by good friend (and retired DU rep) Craig Kessler.  As I am intimately familiar with the world of “free boats”, I brought with me a reserve of skepticism.  I had seen but a single cell phone photo of the craft and was not sure what I would be retrieving.  I had agreed to haul it back to Pencil Brook Boatworks and get it back into gunning condition.  I knew only that the coamings probably needed to be replaced and that there was a bit of rot in the stern.  It was very difficult to judge the dimensions – or even the shape – from the photo.

“Juniper Junior”

The vessel was in dry dock at the home of waterfowl guide Red Oster, in Sayville.  Craig arrived at Red’s house moments after I did and so three veterans – all of whom had grown up shooting Broadbill on Great South Bay out of scooters – began the process of examination, exploration and conjecture that is half the fun of old duckboats.  We do not know yet who built it, but it was noteworthy that a phone number – the builder’s?  owner’s? – was scratched onto the aft coaming.  It has its own historic value because the exchange began with two letters – JU for Juniper – and not the two numbers – 58 – that replaced the more colorful designations sometime during my school days.  The boat is very low, with just a couple of inches of freeboard and pointed at both ends – she recalls the Civil War ironclad Monitor.  It has a tall coaming and a cockpit that is on the small side – a little short (at  6-feet) and a little narrow  (at   42 inches).  There is no room beneath the decks for elbows or boots.  While I happen to command the ideal 5-foot-10-inches of altitude, Craig easily exceeds the outlandish 6-foot threshold and a couple of his gunning partners are even taller – or, more to the point – longer whilst lying on their backs in a scooter.  Fitting the intended crew into this craft would take some creativity…..

The boat was found to be sound enough – definitely needing new coamings and some surgery around the aft hardware (always a good spot to allow moisture through the ‘glass skin into the vulnerable wood framing) – but no fatal flaws.  The prime concern was the size – but safety also came in the discussion.  This boat would be hard-pressed to accommodate two gunners and even one gunner would not have much protection from sloppy seas.  And, it would be a bear to tow.

We talked about removing the decks and building in much more crown.  Red suggested it could be made into a fair one-man boat but fitting two guys in would be a challenge.  I pulled up my Gilgo Gunboat on my laptop and we talked about the direction I would try to take “Juniper Junior” – adding a cowling, a lap canvas, and a “tiger stripe” paint job.  Craig would cover the materials costs and I would have the all the fun of customizing a duckboat – to see saltwater again later this Fall.

Gilgo Gunboat

My mind was already swirling with all kinds of alternatives on the drive back to East Islip.  It seemed that tearing off the existing decks would be the minimum – for thoughts of the fleet back at Pencil Brook Boatworks kept creeping in.  The fleet includes mostly boats that are fully functional – or will be soon.  Several canoes have gotten my attention and and are ready-to-go, used most every season.  Others, like my Sneakbox and my Scooter, are mid-restoration.  My Rhodes 19 needs new floor frames before it can sail on Lake Champlain next summer.  But, a couple are admiitedly “questionable”.  The one I kept thinking of was one of my two O’Day Daysailers.  One needs a minor repair and cosmetics but the other is just a beat-up hull.  My plans have been to salvage all of the hardware from the latter – the hardware is like new because it’s a freshwater vessel – and cut the hull up for the landfill.  Another fate, though, was in its future – aided by its 6-foot beam and 17-foot LOA.

Decrepit Daysailer in the Pencil Brook Boatworks “marina”

The Cut-down

The moribund Daysailer has now been reborn as a 2-man scooter.  On a Sunday morning in late September, my chore list included simply putting this Daysailer on a trailer and hauling it up next to the shop.  It involved first off-loading the other (good) Daysailer from one of my boat trailers.  This task took a half-hour or so and, when I got her next to the shop – and within reach of electricity – I could not help but ask:  I wonder how the Sawzall will work on that hull?  About an hour later, she was intact only below her waterline.  The rest had been cut into manageable chunks, ready to be stripped of hardware and ultimately taken the the landfill.

Gallery 1 – Phase I

Here is the Daysailer as she sat in the “marina” here at Pencil Brook Farm.

The waterline shows the flat sections that make this boat a good choice for a gunning boat.

This picture shows the difference between “needs repair” and “needs rebuild”.

Since this was a freshwater boat, the hardware is almost like new.

Water and mice made their ways throughout the floatation chambers.

The mice got into the forward chamber by way of the 1-inch hole at the far right.

Here is what an hour with a Sawzall can do.

I am saving the cuddy because that molded curve may come in handy on a future project.

A sense of her new profile.

I presumed the waterline was accurate and measured “up” from there along the hull.

I increased the distance above the waterline toward the bow.

I clamped my steel tape along the measured marks to form a fair line.

I cut to the line with a circular saw – first port, then starboard.

The Design

The design phase first required the services of a Hunt Test Dummy, size XL.  Gunning partner “Uncle Al” is 6-foot-3 and is really skilled at lying on his back without moving.  Before he stirred, I was able to locate both ends of the cockpit.  Whereas a real boat designer would perform complex calculations involving volumes and surface areas along the length of the hull, I rely instead on intuition.  To cover my bets, I erred on the side of the bow being a bit too buoyant and the stern being awash – a low bow and high stern would be both bad for gunning and potentially unsafe.  Because so much of the hull would be altered – especially at the stern –  there was no practical way to float test it first.  Only the “sea trials” would tell me if I guessed correctly.

The design includes considerations of function, history and aesthetics.  While the original Great South Bay Scooters evolved for working in, around and over ice on tidal waters in shallow bays, their use in the open bay did not, I believe, come into its own until batteries were outlawed early in the 20th Century.  Scooters were used instead.  Like the batteries, they were tended by a large “mother ship” and a stool boat.  Gunners took turns.  Although some retained the traditional ice-like white paint, many were instead painted a dark “Battleship Grey”, to hide among the waves in the Bay’s rich salt waters.  And, their shape changed.  “Whaleback” scooters had low gunwales and high-crowned decks; “pumpkinseeds” were wide and low.  Most were built to accommodate one gunner at a time but, two-man scooters were built.  The first one I saw – when I was still in elementary school – was a square-sterned skiff/punt belonging to Charles Horal, of East Islip.  Charlie was a close friend of my Dad’s and owned one of the local gas stations – a Sinclair franchise when I was young.  This boat – complete with a pair of butcher-coat-clad gunners – was featured in a Sports Afield article by Norman Strung in the November 1968 issue.

Horal  2-man Gunning Punt

One feature I knew I would incorporate is a rounded stern – the fantail.  It is practical – because it hides better than a conventional transom stern – it is beautiful, and it is a challenge to build.   Our one-man Scooter – built by Benjamin Hallock of East Moriches – has such a stern.

Hallock (Sanford) Scooter

Gallery 2 – Design

“Hunt Test Dummy – gunning partner “Uncle Al” – is hard at work. His son looks on admiringly while my wife ….has seen this movie….

The Douglasfir inwales are fastened one side at a time.

A thickened marine epoxy had ‘glassfibers added.

I used a clamp or a screw every 4 inches.

I only have enough small clamps to do one side at a time.

I split the stem so I could straighten the plan view of the bow – so it would not be concave.

I also had to shave the reinforced ‘glass so it would straighten out.

Cross spalls are tacked in place to establish hull widths.

The width at the aft bulkhead is key.

The midship station will have just quarter knees.

Temporary posts establish the deck profile at the centerline.

Spring clamps are invaluable as I play around with dimensions.

Limber battens are sprung at each bulkhead to establiush the deck crown.

All the key dimensions and shapes are established now.

Framing

A little bit of framing – installing the inwales – had to be done before the rest of the design could begin with any real accuracy.  These inwales – longitudinal framing members on the interior of the hull where the sides meet the deck (the gunwales) – were made from nice, clear vertical-grain Douglasfir.  My neighbor salvaged the lumber from the old gym bleachers at the local high school.  Luckily for me, he could not use the “lip” of each board for flooring, so I now have a lifetime supply of these rippings in the loft – for future boats.

Because the hull from the Daysailer is fairly stiff and because these decks will not be walked on, the framing could be fairly minimal.  Bulkheads are needed at both ends of the cockpit.  Two partial bulkheads – knees really – are needed in the middle of the long cockpit to support its longitudinal frames (purlins).  And, I wanted airtight floatation chambers at both ends and a storage compartment ahead of the actual cockpit for safety equipment and the like.  So, a total of 3 bulkheads and 2 knees were fitted and ‘glassed into place.

Gallery 3 – Framing

Here are all of the “dry-fitted” pieces of the frame.

This hollow forward of the centerboard is filled with 2-part foam then ‘glassed over.

Yellow Pine was carved to fit into the bow – to reinforce the new bow eye.

Internal stem is bedded in several layers of ‘glass and thickened epoxy. Bolt and wood block are just clamping everything until epoxy cures.

Forepeak bulkhead must be airtight – to serve as a floatation chamber.

Forward bulkhead opening has a high threshold to keep bilge water out of the storage compartment.

Note hull sections and deck crown.

This cross spall stays in place until decking is completed.

This cross spall comes off after epoxy cures.

Fantail is framed with a curved “harpin”.

A beam compass is used to draw inner and outer radii.

The outer radius is cut to a bevel.

The bevel matches the lower angle of the inwales.

King plank (central deck framing member) lands on the harpin.

Softwood is glued and screwed to top and bottom of plywood to take fasteners and allow for beveling.

Radii are cut with the router fastened to a board that pivots on a single screw.

About 3 passes are made – each one a bit deeper – with a straight-cut bit in the router.

All screws are removed.

Inner radii are cut the same way.

Once the top is cut, same thing is done on the bottom.

The forward end of the harpin butts against the aft bulkhead.

Forward end of king plank is bedded into bow.

The king plank is taped so it is not prematurely glued to bulkheads.

Aft bulkhead is epoxied into hull.

King plank fits into notch on harpin.

Cockpit purlins fit into notches in bulkheads and knees.

The aft compartment serves as the other floatation chamber.

Shelf fiddles are screwed right through hull – to “clamp” them until epoxy cures.

All the framing is complete – ready for decking.

Could this actually be a spaceship???

The Bottom

The bottom, of course, is probably the most important part of any boat – it is also the toughest part to build.  So, cutting down an existing hull saved lots of time and lots of work.  Best of all, though, the shape of a Daysailer’s bottom is about perfect for an open water boat like White-Wing.  Its wide beam and flat sections amidships ensure a roomy and stable shooting platform.  Its fine and deep forefoot – unknown among conventional Scooters – will soften headseas and avoid the hard slapping that can happen when a shovel-nosed Scooter or Sneakbox is anchored mid-bay.  The flat run – the aftermost third of the bottom – will make it easy to fair up to the fantail, at about the waterline.

Another major consideration is that this boat will be towed – no motor, oars or sails.  I will do what I can to make sure she does not pitch or yaw or pound when pulled through a foot or two of a chop that could come from any quarter.  She should behave predictably and arrive at “the spot” with a dry cockpit.  Hence, the skeg – or is it a keel?  I ran this “underwater fin” from just ahead of the centerboard slot back to where the run started to tuck up toward the fantail.  So, it serves the role of a typical skeg but is located where a keel might be.  Whatever its proper name, I am hoping it will help White-Wing stay on the same course as the towboat.

Gallery 4 – The Bottom

All of the screws in the inwale must be removed.

Most came out easily with a cordless drill but a few were fouled.

A cobalt bit in my half-inch drill did the trick for the tough ones.

All of the square drive deck screws along the fantail came out without incident.

I cut a “dart” along the centerline of the fantail so the two halves would bend up to meet the fantail harpin..

The screws holding the shelf fiddles are ground off – and will be filled and patched .

The transition from old chine to the fantail leaves an ugly hump.

This area will get filled from inside and out and at least 2 layers of ‘glass.

The existing fractures in the hull were patched from within and will get thoroughly ground out and reinforced from the outside, too.

The centerboard slot will get filled with clear Yellow Pine and ‘glassed inside and out.

I taped up some blocks to hold the plug in place while the glue sets.

The can is filled with lead and steel to spring the wood downward.

The keel is rough-scribed now.

After the patching and final fairing are completed the keel is scribed more precisely.

It is set in 3M 5200 and fastened with 3 5/16″ galvanized carriage bolts.

After a thorough sanding with 80-grit, she’s ready for paint.

No – it’s not real copper bottom paint on a winter boat. It’s just red primer – because I had it on hand and because it looks traditional.

The Air Chambers

Traditional Scooters, of course, did not provide what we think of today as “floatation”.  Craft built largely of white cedar would most likely float if filled with water – especially in salt water – but we now expect that a boat will float level with a full load of gunners and guns and provide a bit more time for rescue from a mid-winter bay.

Gallery 5 – Air Chambers

All raw wood is painted with a copper-based wood preservative.

Although both chambers will be out of sight, I paint them white just to make finding any future problems a bit easier.

The high sill on the storage chamber should keep any bilgewater out – and so keep the contents on the dry side.

The storage compartment is painted with a glossy pale grey – to make finding stuff easier.

The 6-inch Beckson deck plates are set in a silicon caulk.

The deck plates should be left open off-season to help prevent rot.

Installing the Decks

Putting the decks on any duckboat really brings the whole picture together.  This step is especially exciting when you “design-as-you-go-along” as I like to do.

Gallery 6 – Decking

First step is to bevel all of the longitudinals to mate with the plywood decking.

The 1/4-inch AC plywood is first clamped to the centerline on the king plank and then to the edges – which are then marked.

The curves are broad enough to be cut with a circular saw – do both sides at once.

Cut about an inch wide of the line because the plywood will squirm around a bit when “tortured” into place.

The undersides are painted with preservative before installation.

Set the plywood in 3M 5200 and use plenty of clamps along the centerline.

Fasten with 1-inch #14 bronze ring nails every few inches.

This gauge tells me where the gunwale is before I drive nails along the edges.

The bronze bow eye was installed – in 3M 5200 – before the decking was fastened.

Butt blocks are glued to the forward decking first.

The aft decking goes onto the butt block with 3M 5200 and held with deck screws until the 5200 cures.

Spread the “torturing” out with clamps before fastening the edges.

After cutting most of the excess off with a sabre saw, I use a 3/8″ round-over bit in a router to get the final edge.

The rounded edge will accept the ‘glass and epoxy.

While the king plank is still in place, I scribe the radius for a “toe rail” to hold the lower edge of the cowling.

The stern fairlead is tacked on to provide a lifting point.

The chain hoists ease flipping – especially appreciated in a one-man shop.

This is pretty much what the oncoming Broadbill will see first!

I can almost see her afloat on salt water…

But it’s still not too late to make this into a spaceship….

Coamings, Hardware & Floorboards

Now I’m coming down the home stretch.  The boat itself is fully established – to my satisfaction – but it is often the details that make its use a pleasure – or not.  This is the first round of details – the final touches come with the canvas and then rigging anchors and lines.  Everything has to work together.

I am using conventional coamings – installed alongside the deck framing – to help stiffen the cockpit opening.  I am using some nice clear treated Yellow Pine.  The fore and aft coamings are the full 3/4-inch thickness but I planed the sides down to 1/2-inch – so they would bend into place.

Because this boat will be towed, there is not much deck hardware.  The well-reinforced bow eye is for towing and to serve as the fairlead for the bow anchor.  A pair of conventional cleats fore and aft of the cockpit secure the anchor lines (or maybe a painter up forward).  The stern fairlead keeps the stern anchor in place – the anchor itself – a smallish mushroom – is a must in any open-bay boat,  to prevent yawing and to keep the gunners pointed in the optimal direction.  The pair of thumbcleats will keep the “lap canvas” (more about this later) in place but allow for easy freeing.  Finally – as is typical on all of my gunning boats in recent years – I carved a sleeping duck into the bow handle.  The sleeping posture avoids any annoying projections and the line of the “side pocket’ makes a comfortable hand-hold.

The floorboard and headrest keep everybody dry and comfortable.  The floorboard is held in place with a cleat of the forward bulkhead and is held in place by a single wooden turnbutton.  I decided against an actual drain (tube and plug) – at least for now – but left a “well” at the foot of the cockpit so any bilgewater can be sponged out at the end of a hunt.

Gallery 7 – Coamings, Hardware & Floorboards

The side coamings are made from 1/2-inch treated Yellow Pine.

The fore and aft coamings are scribed to the deck radii.

The end coamings are rabbeted to protect the end grain of the side coamings.

The coamings are bedded in an adhesive caulk.

Each corner is rounded to protect the canvas.

The bow handle is carved from treated Yellow Pine – a good tough wood.

This is my first sleeping Scoter – epoxied and screwed into framing.

The bronze bow eye also serves as the fairlead for the painter/anchor rode.

Galvanized 5-inch cleats are bolted through the framing fore and aft of the cockpit.

The stern fairlead is also made from treated Yellow Pine – sealed with epoxy.

A stern anchor is critical for open bay gunning – to keep you pointed in the right direction.

The thumb cleats were fully machined before sawing them out of the larger stock.

Note how the grain runs through the horn.

The thumb cleats hold the “lap canvas” in place while gunning.

This spray rail holds the lower edge of the cowling – my first time using Azek – PVC “lumber”.

Everything visible to birds is painted a dark, flat grey.

This cleat and key hold the forward end of the single floorboard.

This oblong pad supports the single fastener – the turnbutton.

The epoxy-sealed turnbutton pivots on a SS fender washer.

The notch in the floorboard centers it under the cleat.

Here it is in place.

Here the turnbutton holds the entire floorboard assembly in place.

This beveled cleat locates the backrest.

Here is the backrest in place.

Shelves are handy to gunners when in gunning position.

Foam mat for shop floors are softer than plywood and keep the gunners a bit warmer.mer and more comfoirtable

Well at aft end of floorboard allows bilgewater to be sponged up at end of hunt.

Now for the canvas.

Canvas

There are 3 pieces of canvas that work together to make this vessel safer, more comfortable, more effective and more convenient.  The “cowling” is like a low spray dodger.  It keeps errant seas out of the cockpit – and off gunners’ necks – but, more important, it keeps the wind out of the cockpit and it hides the silhouettes of the gunners heads.  I decided to make it fixed (not lowerable) and out of canvas – but it could have been made out of plywood or ‘glass.

The “lap cover” serves similar functions.  It keeps the gunners drier and warmer and also hides most of them.  It is fastened (with “Common Sense” turn-button fasteners) to the deck at the aft end but is held in place up forward by shock cord looped over thumb cleats.  This allows the gunners to sit up unimpeded when shooting and also to flip the cover off instantly.

The third piece of canvas is just a temporary substitute.  I had not quite enough Sunbrella (a polyester canvas made for boat upholstery and covers) on hand – so I sewed up a cockpit cover to keep rain and snow and leaves (and varmints) out when the boat is not being used.  I will sew a better cover that fastens around the cockpit and cowling with turn-buttons.

Gallery 8 – Canvas

Time to measure the “as built” LOA – 15-feet-4-inches.

Beam is almost 5-feet-10-inches.

Here is how that “ugly bump” finished off.

She is ready for canvas – painted in grey primer for this season.

It still has that spaceship thing going….

To make the bow for the cowling, I draw a 27-inch radius with a beam compass.

I screw blocks to the floor so I can bend the conduit to them.

I get it as “round” as I can with a bit of fine-tuning.

I was going to make the cowling so it could be raised and lowered….

But I went with a permanently raised one instead.

The strut is screwed to the “spray rail”.

Lashing the ends with decoy line started as a temporary measure.

The structure is ready for the canvas.

I used finished washers to spread the load over more canvas.

Here it is – done – with the grey primer.

This is the “Common Sense” turn-button – which I like better than snaps.

Five turnbuttons hold the foot when gunning.

Thumb cleats and shock cord hold the upper corners.

Most of the gunners are hidden by canvas.

Two gunners lay side-by-side.

Here is most of what the Broadbill will see.

Sea Trials

White-Wing’s first “sea trials” took place on a “sheltered” bit of water – the half-acre Hemlock Swamp here at Pencil Brook Farm.   When full-to-the-brim, the Swamp’s waters can reach up above your knees.  But, it served its purpose.  The real purpose of the first test was to see how she trims.  Up to this point, my design was driven by my educated guesswork.  It is also useful to see how White-Wing would go on and off her trailer.

The real sea trials took place on her intended waters – Peconic Bay – a beautiful piece of tidal salt water between Long Island’s North and South Forks.  She towed and laid well and – best of all – her new owner was very happy with her.

Gallery 9 – Sea Trials

Ready to be fitted to her trailer – those chain hoists make this job easy.

The chock and winch are mounted about as low as they can go.

In she goes ….

She floats – for the first tme.

She trims just as I had hoped – I mean designed….

Cap’n Nemo is always ready to pounce….

A good sign – this pair gave us a fly-over minutes after 4 Woodies tried to join us in the Swamp.

A make-believe “double on Big Ducks” – the season is closed right now.

I think this is an “unimproved launch facility”….

White-Wing looks fast.

Ready for any kind of water.

Her first taste of salt.

She tows true – no yawing or rooting.

The trim remains true – a bit high because she is still looking for 2 good men.

Cap’n Kessler is rigging the stern anchor.

Now she’s ready to go.

This is the hide.

Sea Duck Season is open about a half-mile east of here – thus the paddle for the overhead shot.

Pulling the bow anchor.

A nice leisurely tow back home.

Now we just need to start racking up the hunts – and memories – in White-Wing.