Dinghy

This is the cover of "Building the Herreshoff Dinghy" by Barry Thomas.
Courtesy Mystic Seaport

We’ve also started a dinghy, but work on it has come to a standstill since laying the keel for Lion. She is an 11  1/2 foot lapstrake rowing and sailing dinghy designed by Herreshoff. The drawing comes from an excellent book titled “Building the Herreshoff Dinghy” (Barry Thomas, Mystic Seaport Museum, 1977). In addition to the plans, this book contains a well-documented, first-hand account of the methods used by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company .

So far, we have finished lofting, made and erected the molds, fabricated the keel and stem of white oak, steam bent and joined those two pieces and cut the rabbet to rough shape. We purchased white cedar from Castner’s Sawmill and milled enough for all the planking. The mahogany transom has been glued up and cut to rough size. She will be fastened with bronze rivets and screws.

(NOTE: For latest work on the boat, check the Deck page.)

Click on any photo to enlarge and scroll through the galleries:

Lofting

Molds

Stem/Keel

Planking

Similar Dinghy

Comments on either the website or the boat will be greatly appreciated. You can contact me (Mike Danesi) at mnldanesi@gmail.com.