Rangeley Boat
The Rangeley boat is a guideboat that was developed in the mid to late 1800's for fishing in the large lakes of western Maine. It needed to be fast under oars (this was pre-outboard motor, of course), good in rough water and stable enough to stand up in and fly cast. The boat does all these things admirably.
I fell in love with the looks of this boat and obsessed about it off and on for close to a decade. Once I had built a barn and had the space, it seemed it was my manifest destiny to build one.
Thanks go to Bill Montiglio for the six photographs above.
I visited the Mystic Seaport Museum and bought a set of plans from their ships plans library. This is the Herbert N. Ellis Rangeley Boat. The photos below show the construction sequence if you're interested.
Length overall is 17' 2", and the beam is 4' 2". The stem, keel, transom, gunwhales, deck and sheerstrake are all Honduran mahogany. The planking is Northern white cedar, and the ribs are steam-bent white oak.
I studied dozens of books and magazine articles in preparation for building this. Most helpful were Building Small Boats by Greg Rossel, and Building Classic Small Craft, Volume I by John Gardner, especially the chapter on the Rangeley, which I read over and over and over again.
Here the "backbone" of the boat is set up in a building form.
Molds are placed on the keel and braced overhead.
The white cedar planking is begun. These are 5/16" thick, and a varying bevel is shaped along their entire length with a spokeshave.
The planking is temporarily fastened to the molds with small screws and washers, and to each other with copper rivets.
Planking is complete. The sheerstake is fastened with rose head rivets.
Rib installation started. The ribs are 3/8" x 3/4" and cool off quickly, so they are whisked out of the steam box and quickly pushed down into the hull and clamped until dry. You'll definitely want recently cut air dried stock for this. Jim Aaron of Shutesbury supplied mine.
Molds are removed, tops of the ribs cut off flush and quarter knees installed (in the corner between the transom and sheerstrake). The plans called for a plywood floorboard, which is installed here. It's handsome mahogany marine plywood, but if I had it to do again, I would make a slatted wood floorboard.
Deck installed at the bow.
Inner and outer gunwhales installed, interior varnished.
Thwarts, bronze thwart braces and cypress seats installed. I think the seats were designed this way to keep the "sports" (fishermen being guided) sitting in the middle of the boat. Also, the flat surface on either side of the seat provides a convenient place for tackle.
The boat can be rowed from either of these seats depending on the number of passengers. It can also be rowed by two people if there is a third person in the stern, otherwise the bow digs in a bit.
Boat removed from building form and placed on sawhorses in preparation for painting the hull.
My wife Gertie helped me with the setting of all the ribs and by backing up the many hard to reach rivets when I was peening them over. She also kept me fed and encouraged me through the months of February, March and April 2004, when this boat was built. A good sport and a true friend.
