During the summer of 2004 I got it in my head to build a boat.  The design that I chose, Tread Lightly designed by John Welsford, was going to be a challenge to my woodworking skills.  So before taking on that larger project I wanted to build a really simple boat to build up my ego and get a feel for working with  epoxy and fiberglass. Dolphin, a One Sheet Skiff,  was built from a single 4 by 8 ft sheet of cheap luaun plywood, a package of plastic zip ties, a bit of epoxy, and a few feet of fiberglass cloth.  Matthew and Emily wanted to paint it in "dolphin" colors and I did my best to find a color that looked right.

The Dolphin Boat

Fockler Outpost Life is a journey, not a destination

During the summer of 2004 I got it in my head to build a boat.  The design that I chose, Tread Lightly designed by John Welsford, was going to be a challenge to my woodworking skills.  So before taking on that larger project I wanted to build a really simple boat to build up my ego and get a feel for working with  epoxy and fiberglass. Dolphin, a One Sheet Skiff,  was built from a single 4 by 8 ft sheet of cheap luaun plywood, a package of plastic zip ties, a bit of epoxy, and a few feet of fiberglass cloth.  Matthew and Emily wanted to paint it in "dolphin" colors and I did my best to find a color that looked right.

Emily giving Dolphin a good workover.  Note the huge smile and focused eyes.

Matthew dreaming of his first sail to the Carribbean.  Note the wistful expression and random brush motions.

Closeup of the epoxy fillets.  I will need to be more careful to keep the runs under control.  They are near impossible to sand smooth once they harden.

Once the interior fillets were set, the zip ties were cut off from the outside with a razor blade and a layer of fibergloss cloth was applied.  I used heavier cloth than I needed and it was quite a challenge to get it to lay smooth against the hard chine without creating bubbles underneath.

Note the plastic zip ties holding the sides to the bottom.  After attaching this way, the inside joints are glued together and allowed to dry.

Primed with white exterior latex house paint.  I'll have to take a few more pictures of the final dolphin-colored paint job.  I seem to  have lost the ones I took last fall.

Click on any photo for a larger view...