In the beginning : McKenzie Double-Ender With Transom

Years ago, I can't remember when, I picked up a number of boat building books. Some books for drift boats, some for sailboats. I enjoyed reading all of them. Trying to figure out how they use to build these things. I came across this book showed below and really enjoyed it. It gives you a feel for the history of the boats and their builders. I was hooked. So you could say this project started years ago.

I spent the last few years trying to make up my mind which boat to make. Which boat would fit my needs? Should I pick a small boat and float all the local tributaries and to the Gila River, or something bigger that could be used in the Grand Canyon. Not that we've moved to Albuquerque, the rivers are different. So I decided to build a bigger boat, that could be used reasonably on rivers like the San Juan, parts of The Colorado River and Green. I was tossing up the idea of sizing down a grand canyon dory, but decided instead, to build the Mckenzie Double-Ender with a Transom. This is a classic design and one with lines that I've always admired.

In the book shown above are plans or more accurately tables of numbers. What are these numbers for...

For this, you plot the half widths and other stations as small points, then you connect the dots and make sure the dimensions are fair. It's called lofting. I used a piece of clean pine 8ft long and 1/4" thick. Below you will see the pin stick being held in place by cans of rice and beans. The chine is being lofted in this image.

Chine Lofting

 And here is an image of the sheer being lofted. The boat, when finished, will be a hair over 15 feet.

Sheer Lofting

You may be asking, why loft, why not get the dimensions and start cutting wood. This is the answer, you want to check the the lines and make sure you didn't make any errors. When I was comparing the dimensions given in the book, I saw some discrepancies, which number was right...? In the photo, you can see the numbers that are circled and ones that are crossed out. Lofting also helps give you some perspective on size and shapes. The boat starts to come alive once you loft it. Plus, it gives you more to dream about. So now I have paper, lines and dreams.

Numbers and Checked Number