March - June 2011

I purchased a sheet of 1/8 inch birch plywood, a book of tracing paper, a can of spray adhesive and started tracing out the scaled plans for the Melonseed. I than cut out the station molds, formed the stem and transom and assembled them to a ‘to scale’ ladder back form. After doing all of this and recovering from bronchitis I started to put ‘to scale’ planking on the model. As I was moving along on the planking process I happened to drive up and see Mike Wick’s new melonseed project and he suggested that I add 3 inches to the sheer line of the boat. So I decided to experiment with the model. This worked well, so I thought, why not, and I gave it a try. I thought the extra height of the hull looked good so I decided to keep it as part of the boat.  Adding the ‘to scale’ station molds, stem, transom and planks really got me to thinking about the lumber size and requirement for the real boat. Between work, family and spare time I finally finished the boat’s hull about the beginning of the Summer of 2011.

October 2011

In October I finally had some time to concentrate on the Melonseed project and I went ahead and purchased the necessary plywood to build the station molds. From the model I determined that I would need 10 sheets of ¾ inch plywood for the molds. I decided that I would make the molds from imported birch veneered plywood. This plywood has very few if any voids and the veneered face is great to draw on. Well, when I went to order the plywood I found out that it came from Peru and the plant that manufactured this plywood had a fire and shipments would be delayed for who knew how long. My supplier had 14 sheets in stock and I decide to buy all of them thinking that I could use the extra sheets for other parts of the boat.  I also ordered 4 pieces of S/P/F lumber @ 2x6x16 for the mold’s ladder back. The total cost was $513 delivered. 

November/December 2011

I started tracing the plan’s described station mold patterns. I then glued each station mold tracing to ¼ inch luan plywood, added the extra 3 inches to the sheer and determined the distance from the plan’s baseline to the top of the mold. I did the same for both the transom’s mold and the stem. Once all the station molds were on ¼ inch plywood I faired each mold on my shop built stationary disc sander. I like to use ¼ inch plywood for a mold template to assist in transferring the proper curve and dimensions to the permanent mold material. Some will probably say that this is an extra step but after building 4 boats, I can assure you that it’s time well spent. This method also assists in utilizing the best space on the ¾ inch plywood mold.

Melonseed Overview Fall 2010

I became interested in building a melonseed sailboat at the MASCF in the fall of 2010. At the time I was sailing my small 15 ft. canoe and finding that it really wasn’t big enough for my size. I’m 6’ 4” and weigh anywhere from 260 -270. During the festival I met Mike Wick and several others that had Melonseeds and we started to talk and discuss the options of one style of small sailboat over another.  On reviewing my garage’s length vs. width and the storage requirement for my woodworking business I decided the Melonseed was perfect for me. I could build the boat in the space that I used for my van and still have sufficient room to get in and out of my woodworking shop. So after hemming and hawing, reading reviews on the internet and talking to friends I ordered the plans for the 16 foot Melonseed designed by Mike Barto from the Wooden Boat School’s store. They arrived on January 12, 2011.