Rolf Wagner

I ordered the Yacht Tender plans in December 2000, and finally finished the project in July 2001! It was a pleasure to work on, but as in any new venture (esp. woodworking) one runs into problems that need to be solved. I must admit that part of it is my own fault in that I decided to build the boat out of maple strips instead of cedar. In addition, I used curly maple throughout the boat for effect, a curved walnut strip transom, redwood thwarts, redwood sole, and a Mahogany skeg. I thickness planed the 3/4" maple strips (recommend 1/2" strips once you start around the bilges) to 3/16" prior to glue-up, and for further reinforcement, double glassed the interior, and the exterior below the waterline. So. . . my 9 ft. Yacht tender may be on the heavy side (ca. 95 lbs.), it took about 3 1/2 gallons of West epoxy resin. I took Joe Pitniak's advice (the builder of the beautiful 8ft. tender on your site) and purchased a pair of Shaw and Tenney Spoon Oars. The boat rows like a dream. As you can see the boat's name is "Kiara" . . . to go with my 1979 Ericson 35 "Simba." I would very much like to hear about the weights of Yacht Tenders your other customers have built. Enclosed are some pix for your site should you choose to post them. A word of advice to other builders . . . buy the cedar strips and save yourself a ton of grief. Bending maple, especially the compound bends around the bilges, is an interesting exercise.

Hi Rolf...Congratulations on the completion of your beautiful 9' Yacht Tender. Looks like you did an excellent job of boat-building even though you used hardwood strips. I don't have to tell you how difficult that is to bend those strips in place and have them stay there once you are done. I always caution people against trying to use hardwood strips when they ask about it...John