This wooden boat, designed by Doug Hylan, is being built at the Wind and Oar (W&O) Boat School shop by students from Alliance High School in Portland, Oregon. My role is that of a volunteer instructor, having helped with about a dozen W&O boat builds at a variety of schools with students ranging from grades 5 through 12. With permission from Peter Crim, Executive Director of W&O who is leading the project, I will be photo-documenting this Point Comfort 18 build on this blog. The most recent posts are at the top of page.

Dec 12, 2024
The 2-layers of bottom pieces are permanently glued and screwed into place. Weep holes on the larger panels allow any air pockets to escape.

Dec 5, 2024
The 1/4″ overlapped bottom pieces at the bow are individually dry fitted. We worked the bottom with one team working from the transom, and another from the bow, and met in the middle with the custom fit last pieces. Everything is clearly labeled so when epoxy is applied to all the pieces the puzzle can be put back together in the right order.

Nov 26, 2024
The aft 8′ of bottoms were glued and screwed into place. Note the forward edges of these 1/2″ thick bottoms have a 1/4″ rabbit. This is to receive overlapping 1/4″ plywood from there forward to the stem. There is too much twist to make 1/2″ material work, hence 2 layers of cold molded 1/4″ material is used. The hog and the chine logs/sides have been hand planed (and shaped with a die grinder fit with 3″ 36G disc) to accept the bottom pieces. Note that there will be a transition 3′ from the bow, where aft of that point the bottom pieces overlap the chine logs and the end-grain of the sides. And, forward of that point, and to the stem, the bottom piece’s end-grain butts up against the end-grain of the topside’s ply. This will become more apparent in later pictures.

Nov 14, 2024
The supporting mold for the stem is removed, making room for the sides to be attached. Sides were glued/screwed to the chines, stem, and transom. Inside corners were filleted with thickened epoxy.

Nov 12, 2024
The hog is planed to match the molds in preparation to accept the bottom panels. The chines were fit and glued into place at the transom and to the stem.

Nov 7, 2024
Blocks that are screwed into place at each chine location on the molds. The chines will be temporarily screwed to these blocks to hold in place until sides are attached. The stem was laminated and tapered per plans. The hog was then glued into place, attaching to the stem at the bow and to the transom at stern.

Nov 5, 2024
The hog (as Doug calls it – I’ve called this the keelson in past) is scarfed and laminated with solid, clear douglas fir to a matching okoume plywood version. The hull sides are also scarfed. We are using a 2:1 non-blushing Progressive Epoxy thickened with West Adhesive.

Oct 31, 2024

Molds are inserted into the frames and were leveled on saw horses and aligned mostly by laser level.

Chines were ripped and scarfed to length with students learning how to safely use the table saw.

Oct 15, 2024
Most of the hull plywood pieces and OSB frame sides were cut on a CNC machine, with students observing. Shown are the building frame sides.