GS 7 - Salt Bay Skiff Part 1

I plan to build a Salt Bay skiff and the getting started articles were a great introduction to the process. I’ve also ordered the plans from Chris Franklin the boat’s designer. Looking forward to getting started!

The Salt Bay skiff is a great design for a weekend boat build. With permission from Chris Franklin, Rivers West Small Craft Center has built more than 120 of them in a Family Boat Build event over several years. In a recent move, we mislaid our last plan set. We have all the jigs and templates for mass production, but lost track of some of the bevels. This has everything we need.

I haven't built it, maybe never will, but it looks like a nice little skiff that is squarely in the instant boat category without being an ugly "box". The price of this plan+building guide is hard to beat. The instructions in the document look very clear and should be sufficient to build the boat. The way the panels are nested on the plywood it assumes that the two outer faces of the wood are comparable in quality because panel sections need to be flipped to become a boat. The use of the ply is fairly economical, except for the sheet with the transom and foils, especially if one is building a rowing only version.

I'm a little bit concerned about the pictures showing a child using epoxy with only gloves on and no long-sleeved shirt or respirator, especially when handling those chine log strips with epoxy glue on both sides. I know from experience that even a gunwale strip with epoxy on only one side can be difficult to attach without some epoxy ending up in unintended places. It is sure nice to have an extra set of hands for that type of operation, especially when installing several slippery layers all at once.

Great plans to follow. We have built one skiff in 2017 and needed plans to build another