Shenandoah Whitehall: Steam Bending

     Before assembling the frame of the boat, we need to put a permanent curve into the gunwales (pronounced "gunnles", these are the topmost stringers that run along each side of the boat).  This is because the boat curves up at both ends, and if the gunwales are put in position under tension, they'll eventually straighten out, forcing the hull down at both ends.  Obviously, this doesn't help streamline the boat, so it's necessary to bend the gunwales ahead of time.  There are a number of ways to do this: you can soak them, hang weights on them, pour boiling water over them, or some combination thereof.  We decided to steam them.

Shenandoah Whitehall: Frames and Stringers

     The first step in this project is to cut the transverse sections, or frames, out of plywood.  I imagine that you could probably get away with using exterior-grade stuff from Home Depot, if you slathered it with enough polyurethane, but marine-grade plywood is definitely the recommended material for this.  There are a couple of reasons for this-- the obvious one is that marine plywood will resist moisture better, but it's also desirable to have quality plywood with no voids.  The design calls for driving screws into the end-grain of the  plywood, and a void in the wrong place could allow the screws to pull right out.  A high quality marine plywood such as Okoume is ideal.

Dave Gentry's Shenandoah Whitehall

Photo Courtesy of gentrycustomboats.com.

     I was visiting my parents a couple of weeks ago when my Dad drew my attention to gentrycustomboats.com. Dave Gentry, apparently, is one of a handful of people around the country designing and building non-traditional skin-on-frame boats.  At the time, I had never heard of skin-on-frame construction, traditional or otherwise, but it sounded interesting, and Dad and I have decided to give it a try.  We've purchased plans for Gentry's 14' whitehall rowboat (pictured above), which looks perfect for what we want -- at least on paper.