Chesapeake 14 sheer clamps and stitching

Builder's Forum
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Hi

First-time boatbuilder here, trying to help my 12-year old son build a Chesapeake 14 from kit.

The first steps have gone well with puzzle joints finished and sanded. We cut to length and glued on the sheer clamps, but it took a fair bit of bending with both of us and a lot of clamps to attach them neatly to the shape of the side panels, along a line we scribed just in from the edge. The sheer clamps are standing nicely proud as they should and I think that stage looked well, but after removing the clamps and starting to fit things together, we could see that the plywood has ‘warped’ and has lots of wobbles in it. You can see the wobble in two of the lengthwise pictures below. I’m guessing this is from the sheer clamps trying to straighten themselves and wobbling the plywood a bit. Is this normal, and is there something I should do about it before we stitch together?

Secondly, we cut a spreader bar to size positioned it the required distance from the bow and measure the beam of the boat to make sure it is as required. This makes the side panels look really wide. We might be able to fold the bottom out enough to fit, but it seems like a hell of a stretch. More worryingly, when lining up the side and bottom panels at the bow we have the stern panels not meeting up at all, at least 2 inches difference in length.

Is this all something that will work itself out if we start stitching loosely from the bow towards the stern?

Sorry for all the questions - I’m trying to keep a little boy happy by doing the worrying for him :slight_smile:

Thanks
Brian

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Hi Brian,

i have built a bunch of CLC Chesapeakes including the Chesapeake 14. its a great boat.

with regard to your note and pictures, the first thing i would highlight is the bottom of your hull (the two hull pieces) needs to be substantially flattened. you should have two bulkheads as part of the kit…..and they will show the approximate angle of the hull bottom and sides. if you test fit this you will see that there is a lot of ‘folding out’ you need to do. once you do that, you start stitching the sides to the outer perimeter of the hull……and it should pull into shape.

your picture, for whatever its worth, does show a lot more wobble than i recall when i built mine, but stitching it together and seeing how it shapes under tension will be the real test. the Chesapeake 14 is made with the thinest okoume plywood….so i would expect it to be wobbly prior to being all stitched up.

attached are some pictures of my 14….it’s the yelllow boat:

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Thanks Howard, that is helpful to know. I’ve put hull panels aside for the week and put the boat upright, (ie flipped from the picture), hanging from both the stern and bow. It looks like a better shape now, and some of the wobble has eased.

As you say, the plywood is very thin so maybe I should not be surprised. I’ll approximately fit the bulkheads and then commence with the stitching over the weekend. Fingers crossed!

Thanks

ps: those are some lovely boats you’ve got there, and a nice place to paddle them!