CHAPTER XII
HOW TO BUILD A CHEAP BOAT
The Yankee Pine
From the saw-mills away up among the tributaries of the Ohio River come floating down to the towns along the shore great rafts of pine lumber. These rafts are always objects of interest to the boys, for the youngsters know that when moored to the shore the solidly packed planks make a splendid platform to swim from. Fine springing-boards can be made of the projecting blades of the gigantic sweeps which are used to guide the mammoth rafts, and, somewhere aboard, there is always to be found a "Yankee pine." Just when or why this style of skiff was dubbed with such a peculiar name I am unable to state; but this I know, that when a raft is to be broken up and carted away to the lumber yards there is, or always used to be, a good, light skiff to be had cheap.
However, all boys do not live on the bank of the river, and if they did there would hardly be "Yankee pines" enough to go round; so we will at once proceed to see how to build one for ourselves. Although my readers may find the "Yankee pine" a little more difficult to build than the blunt-ended, flat-bottomed scow, it really is a comparatively simple piece of work for boys familiar with the use of carpenters' tools.
For the side-pieces select two straight-grained pine boards free from knots. These boards should be about 13 or 14 feet long, a couple of inches over a foot in width, and as nearly alike as possible in texture. Besides these there should be in the neighborhood of a dozen other ¾-inch planks, an inch or two over a half foot in width. A small piece of 2-inch plank for the stern-piece is also necessary. Upon the bottom edge of the side-board measure off from each end toward the centre 4 inches, mark the points, and saw off the corners shown by the dotted line in [Fig. 188]. Next take a piece of board 4 feet long and a foot wide, saw off the corners as you did on the side-board, making it 4 feet on the top and 3 feet 4 inches on the bottom. This board is to be used only as a centre brace while modelling the boat.
Fig. 188.—Side-board.