This website is a description of a long term project to build a wooden boat. Lion is a fishing boat measuring 40 feet and approximately 22 tons. She is typical of small fishing schooners found in New England waters around 1800.
The website consists of a section for each stage of construction, as listed in the main menu above. Each section includes photos arranged in sequence showing the construction process. Most photos are captioned with a short description.
The timing of the project to date has been about like this:
– 1990’s – Shop construction
– Early 2000’s – Gathering plans, wood and other materials
– 2010-11 – Lofting and first wood cut
– 2012-14 – Keel laying, stem, sternpost and deadwood construction
– 2015-17 – Frame construction and setup
– 2017-21 – Planking (about half complete)
– 2022-Present – Deck structure
The Gantt chart below lists the tasks yet to be completed as of April 2024 (click on it to enlarge). Although the timeline is inaccurate, the list of tasks is pretty complete and is of value in guiding my efforts.
Journalist Michael Hill of NJTV (the local PBS TV Station) produced and aired the following video in 2017. It provides a good summary of the project at that time. As this website documents, progress has been slow since, but still moving along.
. See the Deck page for the most current work.
Comments on either the website or the boat will be greatly appreciated. You can contact me (Mike Danesi) at mnldanesi@gmail.com.