The TotalBoat team met boatbuilder, Bob Emser, last year at the Wooden Boat Show and was enamored with his gentle, artistic style of boat building and of video creation, too. It was a pleasure to meet and talk to Emser whose calm, educational videos talk through his build of a Joel White designed Haven 12 1/2 – a close sistership to Herreshoff’s famed little sailing dinghy. Given the time and shop space to build such a craft, wouldn’t we all cherish the slow, intentioned pace of something as satisfying as building your own sailboat? Step into Bob’s sculpture studio turned boat shop and see how he’s taking the time to build and document this sweet little wooden boat.
Bob Emser is an internationally lauded sculptor who is inspired by the construction and aesthetics of boats and their close cousin aircraft. He leads us through the process of boat building through the eye of an artist and craftsman and his videos are a calming look at the intricacies and artistry of his craft. Enjoy!
2 comments
Hello Bob, and TotalBoat,
I’m a subscriber to the Art of Boat Building, and I’ve learned some important skills from your videos. Thanks.
I’m restoring a 64 year old cutter, built in Boothbay, Maine by Roy Blaney in 1960, designed by George Stadel, Jr. ("Pilot Cutter). She is 33’ on deck, with white oak keel and frames and eastern cedar planking, fastened in bronze, with a cast iron keel and lead internal ballast. I’ll soon be done with replacing floor timbers, adding some bronze keel bolts, replacing garboards and lower planking, and refastening. I need to deal with the deck, which leaks badly.
The deck is plywood, covered by fiberglass, now in bad shape largely because of water coming in between the deck and the bulwark (big toe-rail) on the outer edge and between the deck and the side of the cabin. Caulking, and an earlier attempt to fix this by putting quarter-round strips at the edges of the deck, has been insufficient, and there are now serious leaks through the deck junctions. Sections of the plywood, the bulwark, and cabin sides and coamings, have developed rot.
After repair/replacing of bad wood, I am planning to seal the joints with epoxy fillets (West System G-Flex, for flexibility), covered by either fiberglass (4 oz?), Dynel, or Xynole, and to replace the old fiberglass on the entire deck with the same material, perhaps carrying it up the sides of the cabin and cockpit coaming The key requirement for the covering will be sealing out water, not structural strength. The second issue is flexibility as the wooden structure flexes. Abrasion resistance is a lesser requirement – this is not a surface that will be grinding over rocks. Lastly – I’m concerned the ease of doing a neat job in application. I have limited experience with fiberglass.
I’m sure you have considerable experience with this issue. Which of these materials – or other ideas – would you suggest?
Sincerely,
Doug Robbins
Pownal, Maine
It was a pleasure to meet and speak with you at Mystic. I hope that your idea of building an electric launch comes to be. I admire your many craft skills and ability to communicate the What, Why and How of each step in the process. Cheers.