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.