The big project of the week has been to design and loft up the drawings for the new rowboat. This boat is being principally inspired by the Bailey Whitehall in the Mystic Seaport Museum, and also be Rangeley Boats.

I wanted something that had that thoroughbred look of the Bailey, something that screamed classic rowboat. The Bailey is beautiful and, I am sure, fast. It is also, however, fairly tender due to its quite rounded bottom, but I wanted something that had some of the Rangeley's rough water ability.

It is very common these days to use computer software to design boats, and I have software to use for that. I still prefer to draw these boats out full scale so that I can get a really good feel for the shapes. You just can't see it the same way on the computer screen. I may still import this design into the lofting software one day.

So I drew out this boat with the stem and transom of the Bailey, but with almost the width of the Rangeley. I used the entry and exit shapes of the Bailey and a midsection that came close to the Rangeley. Then I had to connect the dots, as it were, to make everything flow together into a nice boat shape. Easy to say, difficult to do!

So I thought a half hull model would help. It would, too, but I got the drawings figured out. Traditionally, the half hull is carved first, then it is used to arrive at the sections for lofting, not the other way 'round!