"Cliffy' Lobster boat takes shape - Apprenticeshop

 The Apprenticeshop in Rockland, Maine, is a traditional boat-building school.  Each student builds their own boat - usually a ten foot rowing skiff like the one in the foreground of the current header on this blog.

But the school takes on larger commissions.  One I have presented before - the Dublin Bay 24 - is in an advanced state , though paused by covid19.  I last reported on the lobster boat project at the early stage - building the stem - in February 2020, just before covid 19 hit. But substantial progress is being made on the 26' lobster boat named Cliffy for a local builder, commissioned by South Thomaston boat building legend Harold "Dynamite: Payson. Rick Kraft, a fine woodworker, graduated last year but stayed on as  a Fellow.  He gave me the closeup tour of how this traditional local boat is coming together.

The longitudinal pieces - called ribands -

hold the ribs (frames) in shape 

while the boat is planked.

As the boat is planked the ribands come off.

The first plank is called the garboard. It runs lengthwise 

along the keel, from the stem to the stern.

Too long for one planked, it has to be spliced.

The transom is solid oak.

The lateral pieces are called floor timbers.

The frames (ribs) are split to enable them to bend.