I want you to both enjoy this project and complete it successfully. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you run into problems or have any questions. Sharing ideas with other builders is also beneficial. With your permission, I will forward, from time to time, comments and questions from other builders. Sort of an informal email based "users group". Now, let get started!

The Whisper Glide 20 is a stitch and glue (S&G) design. All surfaces are built from 1/2" plywood. S&G panels are designed to contain NO compound curves. They can bend and twist, but only in one direction. The patterns for the six hull panels may look strange, but when their edges are "stitched" together, they bend and twist into the desired shape. While in the proper position, the panels are "glued" together, using filled epoxy adhesive. All exposed surfaces are glassed to eliminate dry rot and insure a stiff hull. Three full bulkheads and eight partial bulkheads are glassed into the hull for extra stiffness.

The boat is built right side up, using three female forms (located at stations 60, 144, and 216) attached to a level surface or wooden strong back. Both the edges of the forms and the edges of the panels are beveled to insure a good fit, and then the panels are screwed into the forms and stitched to each other along the seams. In areas of high curvature, closely spaced copper wires are used to hold the correct shape. Other areas can be held with nylon wire ties. When all the panels are aligned, the joints are filled with epoxy fillets and sanded smooth. In addition to the female forms, the aft panels are attached to the transom.

The insides are glassed with one layer of 20 oz. stitched roving. Then the station 54, 108, and 180 bulkheads are cut out and glassed into the hulls, along with a 1"x4" shear clamp. Partial bulkheads are installed, along with the transverse stiffeners on 18" centers. Use bi-axial tape to bond all bulkheads and stiffeners

The boat is now turned upside down, faired, and glassed to the same schedule as the inside surface. The hull is now structurally complete and ready for the deck / arrangement of your choice. Several layouts are detailed in the drawings, however the builder is encouraged to modify the arrangement to suit any unique requirements.

The plans for building the Whisper Glide 20 should be carefully studied before any work is started. The LINES drawing is a good place to start. Identify the various sections, waterlines, and butts, and form a mental picture of what the hull looks like. It is essential that you understand the basics of Stitch and Glue construction and fiberglassing techniques. Many good books on these subjects, and I strongly recommend that you read several.

PO box 908

Bay City, MI 48707

COLD MOLDED AND STRIP PLANKED WOOD BOAT BUILDING by Ian Nicolson

The Wooden Boat Store, PO box 78

Brooklin, Maine 04616

FIBERGLASS BOATBUILDING FOR AMATEURS by Ken Hankinson

Boatbuilder Books

PO Box 540638

Merritt Island, FL 32954 phone 321 459 1558

Don't be intimidated if the project appears too complex. The Whisper Glide 20 is designed especially for home construction, and is technically no more difficult than building an S&G kayak. If you’re still uncertain about your capability, consider a small project first, like building a dingy or canoe. The basic steps are all the same, and a small project will sharpen your building skills and develop self-confidence. During this time, you can also collect a lot of valuable information by visiting boat dealers, boat shows, and marinas. Ask questions, look for details that you may want to consider including in your own boat, and sketch up some possible seating arrangements. If you have web access, do a search on "stitch and glue" and visit the boat building news group.

Work slowly, and be careful about purchasing special items before the boat is complete. "Things" that look great in a marine hardware store may look differently in a small boat. If there is one good piece of advice in boat building it’s "KEEP IT SIMPLE".

The ideal building site for the Whisper Glide 20 is an enclosed workshop or garage about 12’ wide and 24’ long. The work area should be kept dry, but the boat can be built outside, using a plastic tarp for rain protection. Fiber glassing in direct sunlight is not advised, as the resin will "go off" very quickly. If you’re forced to work outside, set up a sunshade or do glass work VERY early in the mornings (but avoid dew).

Only a few power tools are needed for this type of project. You can get by with an electric drill, saber saw, and a 6" disc random orbital sander. An 8" disc sander, 4" belt sander, and an orbital palm sander are "nice to have" items, but not required. A portable skill saw is the best tool for cutting the panels out. A good set of common hand tools should include a level, 4' straight edge, 24" framing square, hand saw, assorted screw drivers and open end wrenches, 10-18" bar clamps, 10-4" c-clamps, a good set of sharp chisels, and a wood plane. Optional tools include a shop vacuum, air compressor, router, skill saw, and electric screwdriver.

The hull is built from fifteen sheets of 1/2" plywood. Marine grades are not necessary, since the wood is completely incased in fiberglass. Fiberglass materials should be purchased in bulk in order to get the best price. Epoxy resins will give the best performance and are recommended for areas where bond strength is critical. For everywhere else, I recommend ISOTHALIC polyester laminating resin. It is tougher then the standard "ortho" resins, and more resistant to blistering. The suggested fiberglass schedule is one layer of 20 oz. stitched roving, inside and out, with generous overlaps along the keels and turn of the bilge. Standard 24 oz. woven roving can be used instead, but it is not quite as strong as the stitched fabrics and more difficult to finish.

Stitched roving is easy to wet out and drapes well around compound curves. You will also need 30 yards of 8" wide bi-axial (also called double bias or bias ply) tape, with a mat backing (if your using epoxy find a tape with no mat). The bi-axial tape is used to attach bulkheads and reinforce places like the hull to deck and transom to hull joints. Start with 2 gallons of epoxy, 10 gallons of laminating resin, and two gallons of finishing resin.

To recap, the basic steps in the building sequence are:

Build the rectangular strong back from 2x8 stock, forming a 4 x 13 feet rectangle. These boards can be construction grade but should be straight with little twist. Stiffen the structure with plywood gussets at the corners. Dry wall screws and white glue work well here. Be careful to square the strong back up by equalizing the diagonal measurements. Attach a 4’ length of 2x4 across each end to support the two forms. The strong back should be raised about two feet off the ground, and leveled. An alternative to a wooden strong back is to anchor the female forms with 4x4 posts set in concrete, or molly bolts into a concrete pad, or lag screws into a wooden floor. Whatever method you choose, be sure that the forms are rigid enough to withstand the forces required to bend and twist the panels in place.

Each AMA of the Whisper Glide 20 hull is built over three female station forms, which are placed on the strong back at stations 60, 144, and 216. The forms are simple enough to lay out by hand, using the dimensions from the drawings. Build the forms from 3/4" plywood, and make them solid, with gussets glued and screwed over any joints. The forms do not include any allowance for skin thickness. Skin thickness is included in the panels themselves. You can adjust the height of the forms by varying the distance from the bottom of the form to the waterline – just make sure it’s the same for all three forms. Line the forms up and fasten them securely to the strong back. Check that the waterline and centerline are both correct, using strings or a laser level. The transom is used as a permanent form.

The hull panels are cut from five 4’x21’ panels of plywood. The panels are built up from 15 sheets of 4x8 plywood, using an 8-1 scarf joint and epoxy glue. The quickest way to do scarf joints is to stack up all the plywood, with each sheet off set by the scarf length, 2". Make sure the edges of the stack are flush, and then clamp the stack securely using several long drywall screws. Use a router, portable planer, belt sander, or disc sander to form the scarf. You can monitor the progress of the scarf surface by watching the contour lines that develop along the plys. Try and get these lines straight and the same distance apart. When the joints are finished, glue them together into 21’ panels using epoxy adhesive. The best procedure is to coat both surfaces with a thin layer of pure resin and let it soak in. Then coat both surfaces with thickened epoxy, line up the joint and edges, and staple through the joint in four places. Cover the joint with an 18" wide piece of plastic, then stack up the material for the next sheet, and repeat. When all the pieces are glued together, apply a light pressure to the joints to push out any extra epoxy. After the epoxy cures, clean up both sides of the bond line, and the edges, with a sander.

Stack the full panels in two matching pairs, and lock them together using 3 or 4 drywall screws. The remaining full panel is for hull panel 6 (only 1 required). Check that the edges are not off more than 1/8". Use a chalk line to establish a straight line, and dress off the high spots with a plane.

The dimensions for the hull panels are called out every 24" from the lower left side. Use a framing square to lay out a grid of vertical lines, 24" apart, at right angles to the bottom edge. Next, check the drawings for each panel’s dimensions, and carefully mark the points on the vertical lines. When all the points are marked, use a flexible strip of wood to make a fair curve, and mark the cutting lines. Use a marking pen to write down each panel’s number next to its forward edge. Refer to the Plywood Layout drawing for nesting details, then cut two panels at once (lock them together with dry wall screws) using a skill saw, saber saw, or handsaw. With the panels still locked together, dress the edges into a fair curve and round them off with sandpaper.

The hull panels are numbered from 1 to 6, starting at the shear, and the joints they form are named according to what panels they contain. For example, joint 1-2 is the first joint down from the shear. The patterns contain an allowance for skin thickness.

Dress the edges until they are smooth and fair, then disassemble the panel "pairs" and arrange them so that the outside surface is "up". Sand and fill any holes in the outside surfaces, trim the edges, and round off any sharp corners. This makes the panels assemble easier, and also makes it easier to wet the joint area with epoxy, resulting in stronger glue joint. The few minutes spent working on these edges will have a major impact on how easy the panels assemble. Label the outside surface of each panel with its number, identify which end is the bow. Mark the approximate location of the building forms on the outside of each panel.

Cover the underside of the joints 2-3 & 3-4 with duct tape and brush a thin layer of unfilled epoxy, 8" wide, over the insides of each joint. Let it cure for four hours, then mix up a batch of thickened epoxy, following the manufactures recommendations for structural fillets (about the consistency of peanut butter), and fill the inside of the joints out to a distance of 4" from the edge of the plywood. Use a contoured piece of scrap plywood to form a smooth radius, and clean up the edges with a flat putty knife. Do this before the epoxy cures, unless you really like to sand epoxy! Use enough epoxy so that its roughly ½" thick over the joint, and tapers out to zero at a point 4" from the edge. Don’t worry about burying the tie down wires, they will be cut off and sanded smooth later. After the epoxy cures, repeat the process with panel 1 and 5.

Remove the wire ties and smooth the joints. Remove all the dry wall screws, fill the holes and any low spots, and sand the insides of the AMA completely. The inside of the first AMA is now ready for covering with fiberglass. Start at the shear, using full-length pieces of stitched roving. Overlap the stem and the transom 6". And dry fit the cloth. Where overlaps occur, cut the cloth for a 6-inch overlap. Smooth out any wrinkles with your hands and avoid cutting darts in the fabric unless it’s absolutely necessary. When all the fabric is in place, mix up a batch of resin and wet out one panel at a time. Pull the fabric away from the plywood and put down a heavy coat of resin on the wood. Then push the fabric into place and let it soak up resin while you brush more resin over the fabric. Start with the overlap areas. Brush or roll on heavy coats of resin and allow several minutes for it to soak in. Then go back and add resin to the dry spots and stipple the fabric to remove air and excess resin. Complete an entire panel before moving to the next panel. If you have help, let them search for dry spots and air bubbles. Stitched roving will drape over most surfaces if you work it long enough with a brush. Don’t get carried away with squeezing out "extra" resin. Its better to end up a bit resin rich then to have starved areas. Finally, cover EVERY joint with an 8" wide strip of bias ply tape. After the resin cures, install the station 54, 108, and 180 bulkheads. Glass the bulkheads to the AMA with bias ply tape, and bond two layers of ½"x4" plywood between the bulkheads, inside panel 1, forming a shear clamp (the deck will be screwed to this piece). Taper the bottom edge of the shear clamp into the hull and cover the clamp, and 3" down the hull, with bi-axial tape.

Position the two AMA’s upside down and clamp them together using 3 2x4’s attached to the internal bulkheads. Place the center panel in position and adjust the AMA’s until the gaps are minimal and the structure square. The bottom panel will be easier to bend if you cut six ¼" deep grooves, 1" apart, across the inboard surface of the panel, just past the last stiffener, at both ends. When it’s aligned, screw it to the outer 2x4’s in 4 places. Back the screws out of the 2x4’s. and remove the center panel., Spread thickened epoxy over the top of the three transverse 2x4’s, and replace the center panel, using the 4 screws to hold alignment. Bend the ends down into position and lock them to the AMA’s with wire ties. Put additional screws into the 2x4’s, every 6", then fill the joints with epoxy. Sand and fill as required, then glass over the two joints with two layers of bi-axial tape. Taper the edges of the tape, and cover the panel six with one layer of stitched roving. Run the roving up the sides of the AMA’s at least 6 inches. Laminate the skegs from scrap ½" plywood to a thickness of 2 inches, and bond in place. Cover them with one layer of roving, plus a layer of bi-axial tape at the joint. If you intend to beach the boat often, it’s a good idea to cover the #3-4 joint and bottom of the skeg with a 1/8" x 1" strip of brass or stainless steel.

Now is a good time to finish the outside of the hull. Start by applying two coats of pure resin, followed by a single coat of Surfacing Resin (polyeyester resin only). Let these fill coats cure a few days, then begin sanding and filling. Start with a long board and 80-grit paper. Sand just enough to mark the high spots, then stop and fill the low spots with bondo. NEVER SAND DOWN INTO THE CLOTH. When the surface gets fairly smooth, spray on a coat of sanding primer and switch to 100 grit paper. Continue the sand, fill, and prime cycle until you’re down to 180-grit paper on the long board. At this point, switch to 240 grit wet paper and wet sand with a hand block.

Turn the boat over, add the remaining partial bulkheads and 2x4 stiffeners, and glass them to the bulkheads and center panel with bi-axial tape. Secure the 2x4’s to the full bulkheads with epoxy and screws. The shear line should be perfectly flat. If its not, build up the low spots with wood scraps and epoxy.

Before starting the deck, think about finishing the storage areas, fuel or water tanks, batteries, engine well, or any other jobs that will be difficult when the deck is on. The deck is built from scarfed pieces of ¾" plywood. Bond it in place using 3M-5200 over all mating surfaces, backed up with stainless dry wall screws. Position the seat and coaming frames and skin them with ½" plywood. Radius all edges, and fiberglass with one layer of stitched roving. Carry the roving down over the hull to deck joint 2 inches, then wrap the hull to deck joint with two layers of 4" glass tape. The boat is now stiff enough to roll over about 45 degrees (set it on tires or some old bumpers) and lay down a layer of BI-axial tape along the inside of the hull to deck joint. This will require you to work through the hatch cut outs, which is uncomfortable, but contributes an extra margin of safety to the hull to deck joint. While you’re at it, also glass any seat joints that you can reach. Finish sand the deck, seats, and coaming.

Steering and control options are numerous. You can build your own consol, or choose from many available designs.

Install floatation foam.

The trailer will most likely have to be custom fitted. Make sure that a pair of bunks are set vertical, to keep the boat from sliding sideways.

Most boat projects are never really finished. There are always improvements to make and changes to evaluate. The important thing is to have fun with the boat – make it just the way YOU want it, and "enjoy".

(800) 423 0030

(Excellent single source for boat building supplies including screws, resin, fiberglass, and tools)

Rt. 1, Box 223-W

Suttons Bay, MI 49682

(616) 271 6729

(Copper boat nails and traditional hardware)

PO #60457

St. Petersburg, FL 33784

(800) 272 7890 or (813) 327 8117

(Epoxy and polyester resins, fillers, clothe)

Black seam compound: SIS 440, 941 756 0600, teakdecking@prodigy.net

HATCHES: from FISH-ON (1-877-2fishon); 11 x 15,and 13 x 23 hatches

More Hatches: www.cobra.com (16x10 and 23x13)