On a beautiful fall day here in Wisconsin I finally got my two 12' Wood Ducks finished and on the water. They still need some tweaking on the hatches and they need to be varnished but otherwise they are seaworthy.
Thanks to everyone on this forum for your advice and encouragement. Now what to do next.....
Those are beautiful, Larry. Nice work. I'm thinking about a somewhat similar deck design, and I assume the reddish wood is dark cedar. What about the dark and the light? Assuming this was a kit, did you have to order this mix specifically? If you built from plans, do you recall how many strips of each shade/color/species you used?
Beautiful work, Larry. Are those darker accent stripes walnut? Did you mill your strips yourself or get them from CLC or some other source? Really an inspiration. Thanks for positing these pics.
Hi Dave, The first duck started from a kit last August and the second was from plans I bought a month or two later. If you work with the folks at CLC and tell them at the time you order your kit what kind of pattern you have in mind they will work with you to get the right mix of woods.
I ordered a few extra sticks of the really dark and the really light woods so that I had plenty to spare. That turned out to be a good idea. I found the designs evolved as the build progressed so dont be afraid to change your mind as you see what you have to work with. The kit had about a dozen strips of red cedar that had end-grain run out so they had a distinctive tiger stripe appearance. I intentionally put those together on either side and behind the cockpit. It gives that area an interesting look.
For the second scratch-built boat I aquired materials from several sources. I ordered a bunch of cedar from another marine supply house. They were cheap and fast but the quality was awful. The coves were badly cut and many were crushed. CLC had much better quality strips but they took a very long time (over a month) to be delivered. But if you plan ahead CLC will set you up with great materials and they are always happy to talk with you. Have fun!