Preview: How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 22 – Stemheads & Breasthooks

*     *     *
OffCenterHarbor.com is a membership website with over 1,000 videos and articles on boat handling, repairs, maintenance, boat building, dream boats and more.

Sign up above to learn more, and get 10 of our best videos.

*     *     *

Stems and breasthooks are signature components that jump out visually in the finished boat.  Learn the specific techniques to get things right.

Get Free Videos Start Free Trial Members Sign In

Comments, Thoughts or Suggestions?

You can leave a comment or question for OCH and members below. Here are the comments so far…

Leave a Comment

11 Responses So Far to “How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 22 – Stemheads & Breasthooks

  • Avatar

    Matt Haverly says:

    How is it this guy NEVER breaks his pencil lead when he makes lines? I break my pencil every other line I draw. :)

  • Avatar

    David Heal says:

    If one was planning on clear-coating the interior (with clear epoxy and/or varnish), how diligent should one be in removing all evidence of excess epoxy spill-out? Use masking tape on adjacent unglued areas? Thoroughly wipe off excess with denatured alcohol? Does the spill-out epoxy staining “disappear” when it is covered by the final clear coating?

    • Avatar

      Geoff Kerr says:

      I advocate a complete sealer coat of epoxy inside and out. This serves as an excellent base for subsequent paint or varnish work. Any areas that were previously splotched with epoxy will then blend right in. I do mask and wipe clean with denatured alcohol as I build, as I try to avoid as much sanding and chunk scraping as possible. If you varnish over epoxy splotched areas adjacent to raw areas I suspect the color will eventually blend. It will probably take an extra coat or three to get surface build-up to match.

  • Avatar

    Lee Fox says:

    Re: Stemheads & Breasthooks. Geoff took this difficult part of boatbuilding and demystified it!
    I like his comments “Stemheads need to mimic the natural sweep of the sheer” and “Breasthook crowns makes it pretty” ……including the hollow! I agree, folks that see a lovely boat feel the breasthook when they cup their hand on the curve including the underside. I admit I’ve done it and don’t know why? :) Thank-you OCH crew for bringing another great video for this Caledonian Yawl series.

  • Avatar

    Weaver Lilley says:

    As usual, I waited with anticipation for this episode. Just a terrific series. Question: Not sure how Geoff bevelled the sides of the breast hook. We saw him take the angle. Was it band sawed, shaped with the planer or other means?

  • Avatar

    William Loux says:

    This series is absolutely fantastic, wish I had watched it before I started building my boat, would have saved me many errors. What a great boat, simple to follow, and all basic boat building skills that would transfer to nearly any home built boat. I anxiously await each episode and this series alone is well worth the price of the Off Center Harbor subscription.

GET THIS FULL VIDEO!

Get Immediate Access, Plus
10 More of Our Best Videos

Your email is safe with us.
We'll NEVER share it, and we DON'T spam.

or …


Start Free Trial

Get Instant Access as a Member to the Entire Site

  • Access all 1000 videos/articles
  • No risk! Cancel anytime
  • Get a nice discount if you join