Grace's Tender

Length: 8’ 0” || Beam: 4’ 1”
Draft, board up: 0’ 5” || Draft, board down: 2’ 1”
Weight: 55 pounds || Sail Area: 39 sq. ft.

As her name implies, I designed this boat as a tender for a bigger one, a purpose which she serves very well. My requirements were for a dinghy that would be a good load carrier, able to ferry the bigger boat's crew and gear ashore from an anchorage, that would be light enough for one person to carry above high water mark, and that would row easily into a steep harbor chop when the occasion arose. The latter requirement pretty much precluded a pram. Prams are popular as tenders, being able to carry a good load, but rowing into a head wind can be very wet, hard work. Grace's Tender is much more at home than any pram in a head sea.

More than just a tender, this little dinghy has turned out to be a fine vessel in her own right. She is a pleasure to row, and sprightly under her simple sailing rig - a great boat for youngsters to mess about in.

She is also an excellent teaching tool. The prototype was built by my daughter, Grace, when she was ten years old. The construction method uses sheet plywood in the conventional way, with a set of three temporary frames on a strongback, a keel, and chines. The frames are removed after planking has been completed.

If this is conventional plywood boatbuilding, it is boatbuilding reduced to its most basic elements. The strongback is a simple T-section, made from two boards; the frames slot onto it to make setting up a very straightforward, accurate, and foolproof procedure.

The strongback rests on a pair of sawhorses while you are building the hull; you add keel, chines and planking, then turn the boat over and remove the strongback and frames before adding seats and a daggerboard trunk (if desired). At the end, the builder has had a good introduction to the essentials of boatbuilding as applied to much bigger, more complex vessels.

THE DVD

The two hour DVD gives a detailed took at every stage of construction. Watching Grace at work will be an inspiration to any young - and not so young - builder.

TOOLS AND MATERIALS

You need some basic woodworking tools to build Grace's Tender - a plane, chisels, handsaw, jigsaw, drill, and measuring and marking tools. The materials list includes two sheets of 4mm plywood, a piece of ½" marine plywood for the transom, epoxy resin, ½" particle board or plywood for the frames, and some lumber and stainless steel screws (your local lumber yard should have what you need).

WHAT YOU CAN ORDER:

• STUDY PACKAGE:
  This includes two 18" x 24" sheets of scale drawings, and a boolket with numerous photographs, and a detailed description of the boat, its construction, and more on the plans, kit, materials, tools, and the like. 

• PLANS:
  Nine sheets of scale construction drawings and full size details, full size patterns of frames, stem, transom, rudder, etc., printed on Mylar® for accuracy and ease of use, and an illustrated building manual, all backed up by a free advisory service.

• DVD:
  Let Grace show you how she did it. Two hours of hands on details (no talking heads). $35.00 +P&H.