Taking Lines Off Small Craft

This is a five-day course ending on Friday

Over the years, numerous methods have been devised to measure and record the shapes of boats whose original lines plans, if they ever existed, have passed into oblivion. In this course, Warren Barker will lead students through the hands-on process of setting up for an accurate take-off of the shape of a boat that will then be transferred to a full-sized lofting. You will also record scantlings, the dimensions of all the parts and pieces that go into the boat. The course will touch on other aspects of documenting boats as well. The boat you will be using in the course is LOUISE, one of the traditional rowing boats in WoodenBoat School’s fleet of watercraft. At 14’4” LOA with a 49” beam, she is a great example of a small, Whitehall-style pulling boat. Like so many boats that have had their lines taken, her history is a bit of a mystery. We know she was built in the 1930s in Christmas Cove, in midcoast Maine, for a local family (the same family that donated the boat to the school many years later). Like so many small boats built during that time, she has no plans or other documentation. By week’s end, LOUISE will have the lines that builders can follow in creating boats of the same model.