Clinker Boats

My new project is a 12ft plumb-stemmed dinghy of very fine build planked in elm, spruce and mahogany with a slender Bermudian rig on spruce spars. She was built in Gosport by ‘Bone Brothers Boatbuilders’ that appears to be a long-gone source of these pretty little dinghies.

I hauled her into the workshop in October 2025 and chocked her up and stowed the limited gear and spars that came with her until I have the time to work on her.

She’s coated in a very dark traditional linseed oil varnish that scapes off easily without needing any heat. He original build has elm garboard and first strakes, then spruce all the way up, finishing with a mahogany sheer strake. However she’s clearly been neatly repaired in the past and has some extra mahogany strakes in a couple of runs at the turn of bilge. Additionally, more recently she has been over-patched with thin plywood tingles on her bottom. Once I’ve stripped some of the paint and varnish off I can assess what planking needs repairing. What is impressive is that all her timbers (ribs) are intact which I find remarkable for such an elderly open dinghy.