Puddle Duck Test Class
By John BealeWe finished the first Puddle Duck weekend, one more to go. Being as this was a test class we only had participant, you might recognize the build crew from the picture of hull 751. The older fellow is Dave Moates who is the father of the fellow in the green ball cap who is Jeff Moates who is the father of the young fellow Jackson Moates. All in all there were three generations out together building a boat. This is representative of the whole goal of building Puddle Ducks at the museum bringing friends and family together to get them building boats and on the water.
Dave puts the bow on while Jackson holds it steady
Jackson mixing up filler with Titebond3 and Wheat Flour, family friendly, waterproof and easy to clean up
Jeff filling in the edges of the plywood and any little gaps while Jackson handles quality control
John Beale, Jackson Moates and Jeff Moates lay out the Leg O Mutton sail for “The Quacker” #751
Jeff adding grommets to the luff (this is an extra heavy duty tarp and came with nice heavy grommets just spaced out a bit more than I cared for so we are adding one in between each of the originals)
Jackson and Jeff Painting the inside of the hull before putting the deck on
Laminating the mast out of two planed down 2x4s when its all done it will be tapered and rounded and looking as sleek as the deck
Jackson, Jeff and Dave Moates start putting the deck on with guidance from John Beale
The construction process we use is ¼ exterior ply over 1x12 sides and airboxes glued with PL Premium and screwed down with coated deck screws, no need for clamps or filling screw holes that way just drive them in flush and give it 3 good coats exterior semi gloss latex paint.
John Beale
Education and Volunteer Coordinator, Florida Maritime Museum