Preview: How to Build a Wooden Boat – AROHA, Part 3 – Unpacking the Kit

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What comes in a kit for a beautiful power boat like AROHA? See for yourself as Eric opens the box, unpacks, and points out his approach to how things will come together.

Plans and Kit for the AROHA Weekend Cruiser are available here.

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33 Responses So Far to “How to Build a Wooden Boat – AROHA, Part 3 – Unpacking the Kit

  • George W II

    George W II says:

    It’s nice that the bevel lines are etched into the CNC cutouts. I wonder if one orders the full-sized mylar plans instead of popping for the CNC solution, if the bevel lines are indicated on the sheets. Asking for a friend. ;>)

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    Mike Justice says:

    Is that OSB that I saw tongued together with plywood?
    Do people know that OSB has a glue lam life of 7 years then the crap starts delaminating.

    • andrew donald

      andrew donald says:

      OSB is only the jig. Doesn’t stay in the boat

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    David Badion says:

    Head over to BBY’s website for some pictures of the build.

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    Robert Ford says:

    I don’t yet have the experience to build a boat like this, but the AROHA is my dream boat and I WILL BUILD IT!

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    Detlev Loell says:

    Hi Eric, i have received the plans right now. As we are in lock-down here in Germany, i will start building soon. Great original design, very nice lines, great shape. The modification of the skeg i really do not like. I will build it from welded stainless steel as an open structure supporting the stern tube and the rudder.
    I decided to build the boat slightly larger, as to have a bulkhead between steering position and the cabin. ( We have really cold weather here at the baltic sea, near the polish border. So i have redrawn the plans in scale 1:1,2, giving it 8,5´beam and 35´ length. Gives also some more head-room in the cabin. I will send you some photographs. If you like, i could send you the redrawn lines of the larger version.
    Regards Detlev

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    nikola drmac says:

    great…fantastic…this is going to be a nice and useful story!!!!
    Thank you Eric !!

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    David Sinclair says:

    Aroha! Whio! The names alone sound of fun and fulfillment. An exciting build in the making. Glad to see another wonderfully instructive boat building series ‘setting sail’. This is what OCH does extremely well and for which I return again and again to watch and listen, and learn something new with each delightful re-viewing. I look forward to watching your adventure. Bon chance à tous.

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    Neil Henderson says:

    Looks like a wonderful project – our neighbours in NZ design some really interesting boats and this is definitely one of them. Please keep doing the videos – and I think you need a macaw as appears in Todd Sampsons videos……………………

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    David Gruendel says:

    A few years back we journeyed to Brooklin to see BBY and WBS. We had lunch at a little shop just across the highway from the Oddfellows lodge which at the time was pretty rundown and looking for donors for a restoration and new purpose. I liked the building well enough to take several photos of it, and I’d often wondered what happened to it. I am delighted to see what it has become. It will be great to watch a beautiful new boat take shape in that handsome old space.

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    Danny Briggs says:

    You have managed to tempt me to build this boat. I’ve been looking carefully at the plans and working out what Australian timbers will be appropriate. I’ve just asked how to get the kit in Australia. So I am SUPER excited to see you continue this video series. It will be rather different to my current Herreshoff steel ketch.

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    Sanders Brott says:

    I second the beveling question and the Christmas morning analogy!

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    Jim Kingsbury says:

    Eric, I’m happy to say that the molds are epoxied and in place & the strong backs are accurate.
    Next task is to square the molds vertically and brace as needed. My garage is a 3 bay open span and I have attached 5 (4 ” swiveling casters /brakes) for each strongback to shift the build about as required. This option might help. I found the CNC molds to be super accurate and fun to add to the strongbacks. I’m very glad that you are doing the video because there is some future work that don’t understand yet. Thank you !

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    Harold Wheeler says:

    Excited to see the first three video’s, cannot wait to see it thru to the end.

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    Jeff Green says:

    Truly exciting to see the process unfold. Looking forward to each step in the journey!

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    David Badion says:

    Hi Eric, thank you for the unpacking overview. I hope to have my own unpacking soon. For those of you in the PNW, Gardner at Hewes has arranged to have the kit cut in Port Townsend. I eagerly await the next video in the series…davey B.

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      David Gilliver says:

      David
      If you live in the PNW I would very much like to see your progress in the build. I live in Poulsbo a short drive from Port Townsend. [email protected]

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    Robert Hauser says:

    Looks like a great kit. The extra accuracy and time saving of the CNC make kits like this a very good deal. Can’t wait for the next episode. Back to work Eric!

    Thanks

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    Michael Mittleman says:

    Good luck with the build, Eric. How about maintaining a real-time clock of the different phases? It would be a valuable data sliice.

    • Steve Stone

      Steve Stone says:

      That’s a good idea, Michael. We’ll see what we can do about that. Not being the meticulous record-keeping type is probably how we all ended up in rural Maine starting OCH, but perhaps the builders’ time records can be repurposed in a summary way to be of more value. With 3 to 5 pros working on the project daily the overall lapsed time might not be too relevant to the solo at-home builder.

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        Patrick Daniels says:

        heh. clock each human!

        some stop motion will come into play as well I guess…

  • Doug Hermann

    Doug Hermann says:

    Great to have something positive, creative, wholesome, built by hand and mind, right here in the USA! Ohhhh, to have work spaces like that! Lost count on how many nice work tables Eric has available. This will be an awesome build, great way to ease into the fall and winter months! Two great build series this winter on OCH! Aroha and Doug Hylan’s Arriba. Who needs TV when we have our own OCH?!

    Thank you Eric and the rest of the OCH team to having the vision and skills to bring all this to life! Humbled by your capabilities.

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    William McCaffrey says:

    This looks like a well thought out kit. The build should be interesting with an exciting result.

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    scott hitt says:

    goodonyas … looking fwd to the assembly!!!
    peace
    scott

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    Mike McAllister says:

    Thank you Eric for letting us follow along on this wonderful build with a fantastic kit. It’s great how you go into great detail how all this goes together.
    Really looking forward to this build! Thank you again!

  • Charlie Nichols

    Charlie Nichols says:

    What a great project! I’m curious if it would be a effort-saver to at least rough the bevels before glue up and assemble to the strong back?

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    Rich Dodson says:

    I am really excited to learn from this series. OCH has been an investment in my sanity. Thank you!

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    Paul Cammaroto says:

    Eric and BBY
    With the anticipation, today seems like Christmas Morning. Good luck and Great Success on the Aroha project. We’ll be hanging on every word

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    Fernando Esteban says:

    Hello Eric, looking forward to following along on your build.
    Cheers…..Fernando

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