JEM Watercraft

Don't get me wrong I like the Muskoka as it is but out of curiosity, how hard would it be to build the Muskoka in lapstrake? What are the disadvantages and advantages? What is the correct way of doing it?

There are several books about the technique. It's basically having the panels slightly overlap each other. There's, of course, more to it.

The frames would not be sized properly to do this. And you really need to have the panels reshaped.

So I understand it is not that simple. Thanks Matt.

Other than not being a straight forward affair, what other reasons are there that there are not many builders opting to do it?

Other than not being a straight forward affair, what other reasons are there that there are not many builders opting to do it?

Not only is panel lay up more dificult, Fibreglassing the hull would also become more difficult.

I think the lapstrake idea came about in a time when epoxy techlology was not as goos as it is today. perhaps these boats were made using inferior products and there may have been some percieved added strength in a lapstrake hull. i don't know.

Perhaps, some people simply prefer the looks of a lapstrake hull. Personally, I think they are way more trouble than they might be worth.

Here's a picture of the technique from http://www.danenbergboatworks.com .

Now in this picture they talk about rot spot and stuff with the end grain exposed. This could be resolved with epxoy sealing. But from the picture you can get an idea of what is involved in this type of construction. They show nails or screw being used. A stitch could also do the job.

They look very beautiful. No doubt about that.

A big advantage is you can have long/tall sides and not need as much bracing because each lap joint serves as a beam. But I don't know if you could assemble the tumblehome panel on the Muskoka and have it look right.

One way to get this sort of "look" in stitch and glue would be to use a clear, untinted epoxy, and then use a very dark color woodflour filler.

Some further thoughts:

If you had multi panels say only about 3" tall at the most, then you might be able to get away with thinner plywood since you have longitudinal "beams" formed by each lap joint.

But you'd also need more filleting material to form all the joints and seal them properly.

I would take a lapstrake boat on anything but nice deep water. all the edges of each lap joint sticking out will rub on rocks and it won't take much to wear down to the bare wood. You could fiberglass over all the joints but it won't be fun to do.

The Viking long boats were lapstrake. They were the ONLY boats to ever successfully attack and dominate the English coast.

But, they weren't made of plywood. Today, lapstrake has been surpassed by better materials.