All Videos » Building the Caledonia Yawl

Short of taking a course in person at a boat building school, there’s nothing like our glued lapstrake plywood boat building videos for learning the ins and outs of this wooden boat building method. In our in-depth series on how to build an Iain Oughtred-designed Caledonia Yawl, pro boat builder Geoff Kerr takes you all the way through the process from setting up shop to rigging and launch.

Get hours of up-close instruction from Geoff and save time and money getting it right the first time. Whether it’s making the building frame, setting the molds, planking, building the centerboard trunk, building the rails or painting, Geoff shares insider tips and tricks so you can keep your build moving forward with confidence.

Plywood Lapstrake Construction is a modern boat building method which involves overlapping and fastening with epoxy the edges of marine-grade plywood planks. These designs are easy to build, unusually light and strong, and free from leaks. Have a look at the full series below.

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How to Use Epoxy, Part 2 – Getting a Smooth Finish for Paint or Varnish: Eric Blake continues his walkthrough on how to use epoxy to get a smooth finish for paint or varnish at the Brooklin Bo...
How to Use Epoxy, Part 1 – Coating Plywood for Paint or Varnish: For your next project, let Eric Blake walk you through using an epoxy buildup coat before painting or varnishing bare...
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 42 – Final Thoughts: A few final words from Geoff as we prepare for launching day....
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 41 – Rigging: Woodworking tools can be put away as Geoff assembles the Caledonia Yawl and completes her rigging with her new suit of s...
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 40 – Installing the Hardware: Cleats, oarlocks and a few more final bits of hardware as we draw close to finishing up our Caledonia Yawl....
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 39 – Fitting Out the Interior: Putting all these parts together that we’ve spent so much time making? What could be more satisfying?...
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 38 – Installing the Rub Strips: Whether you call them bang-strips, rub-strips, or brass half-oval, they are a must for protecting the keel while getting...
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 37 – Mast Steps & Partners: There’s a lot of pressure exerted on masts so well set steps and partners are vital to keep everything in place....
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 36 – Finishing the Mainmast: Some planing, sanding and a little carving to bring our birdsmouth spar to completion and ready for paint or varnish....
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 35 – Assembling the Birdsmouth Mast: Working those long twisting staves into position made simple. Here’s how the birdsmouth mast comes together....
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 34 – Milling the Wood For a Birdsmouth Mast: Our hollow mainmast will call for some pieces which need to be carefully shaped. The result is a birdsmouth mast weighin...
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 33 – Solid Spar Making with the Mizzen Mast: Building a solid round spar calls for specific tapering and shaping techniques and a lot of fractions....
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 32 – Finishing the Rudder: When building a double-ender there will be some discussion of pintles & gudgeons as well as the Norwegian tiller- th...
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 31 – Shaping the Rudder & Centerboard: Shaping and feathering the trailing edges of both rudder and centerboard into aqua dynamic shapes is the subject here....
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 30 – Reinforcing & Ballasting the Centerboard: Heft and durability – just what our centerboard needs....
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 29 – Laminating the Centerboard & Rudder: Laminating the centerboard and rudder and similar processes. Follow along with Geoff Kerr and he takes us through Iain O...
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 28 – Cleanup, Filleting & Priming: Cleaning up the inside of the hull is a must in preparation for painting....
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 27 – The Floorboards: Being systematic is key as the floorboards are cut and shaped before painting....
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 26 – Some Odds & Ends: Crucial finishing details are illustrated so you can get things right as the project winds up....
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 25 – Shaping & Drilling the Seats & Partners: Dressing the side benches and thwarts maintains their strength while removing the appearance of bulkiness....
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 24 – Partners, Thwarts & Side Benches: As our Caledonia Yawl takes final shape, Geoff furnishes the interior space with thwarts and seats....
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 23 – Cleats for the Thwarts: Locating the exact position of cleats supporting the thwarts, and then establishing the proper bevel so the cleats lay s...
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 22 – Stemheads & Breasthooks: Stems and breasthooks are signature components that jump out visually in the finished boat.  Learn the specific techniq...
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 21 – The Centerboard Trunk: Over a period of four days Geoff builds and installs the centerboard trunk....
How to Build A Caledonia Yawl, Part 20 – The Rails: Geoff brings a bit of salty boat quality to the hull as he installs the rails....
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 19 – Turning the Hull Over: Flipping the hull over, a job that’s scarier than hard, gives us our first chance to see just how big a Caledonia...
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 18 – Scoring a Waterline with a Laser Level: Striking and the scoring an accurate waterline is an easy job with a laser level and a good set of plans.  Join Maynard...
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 17 – Installing the Outer Stems & Keel: In a double-ended boat, the outer stems define her final shape.  See how forethought throughout the project makes this...
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 16 – Prepping for Outer Stems & Keel: Fairing the hull with a power plane to achieve a snug fit for the keel and the stem....
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 15 – Planking: Geoff Kerr’s masterpiece; where artistry and structural imperatives intersect.  Planking, after all, is ultimatel...
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 14 – The Garboard Planks: Snug fitting garboard planks are key when it comes to keeping water out of a boat....
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 13 – Mounting the Floor Timbers: Mounting the floor timbers completes the boat’s backbone and must be done correctly to assure a smooth landing for...
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 12 – Fairing the Keelson: Fairing the keelson with a power plane calls for precision.  Get it right and the garboard planks kiss the keelson all...
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 11 – Installing the Keelson & Stems: Installing the fore and aft inner stems and epoxying them to the keelson, the whole job stabilized with clever angle iro...
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 10 – Shaping the Stem: A strong, well rendered stem sets the shape of the boat to come.  Here are the tips and techniques you need to get it r...
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 9 – Preparing the Keelson: Preparing the keelson: Milling out the keelson and cutting the center board slot by employing the precision of a table s...
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 8 – Making the Floor Timbers: Techniques for fashioning precise floor timbers are covered here.  And don’t forget the limber holes....
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 7 – Scarfing the Planks: Kit builder Gardiner Pickering takes us through the steps in gluing up pre-cut scarf joints to create precise boat-lengt...
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 6 – Laminating the Stems: Stems on a double-ended boat largely define the shape as well as assuring the integrity of the structure.  So let the l...
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 5 – Tips for Mixing and Applying Epoxy: An expert takes on the goop in this video on mixing and applying epoxy.  Do it right, epoxy is your best friend; do it...
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 4 – Building Frame & Molds: Constructing the building frame and setting up molds.  How to get things straight and level at the outset gets the job...
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 3 – Essential Boat Building Tools: What are the minimum essential boat building tools for a boat like the Caledonia Yawl?  Geoff Kerr takes us through...
How to Build a Caledonia Yawl, Part 2 – Setting Up Shop: Geoff Kerr sets up our new shop the way he wants it for the new series about building a Caledonia Yawl.  “Manning...
How To Build the Caledonia Yawl, Part 1 – A Good Boat, Up-Close:  For “Part 1” of this series, we revisit our up-close look at the Caledonia Yawl and why we love her...