Meet Johathan the Boat Builder!
Posted on 20 September 2019
These aren’t just any ordinary boats either… these are handcrafted and
made with a great deal of precision and care.
Jonathan White, a very talented man indeed, has built a beautiful 12 foot
long (3.5 metres) Whitehall Dinghy, weighing 45 kilos, in his garage. Jonathan
explained the level of detail that was applied to the Whitehall (also known
as a Glued Lapstrake Dinghy). The oars have leather sleeves that have to be
in the correct position and are hand-stitched with a herringbone stitch and
all the fittings are bronze, so they don’t rust. Firstly the boat is built upside
down on 10 moulds to get the shape and on a jig (framework) which has to
be precise and the correct length to put the moulds on. He starts at the keel
and works outwards, down around the moulds. Very few automated tools
are used and are mainly handcrafted.
This beauty (see pic) took Jonathan 10 months to build – it usually takes six,
but he’s kept busy with all his other activities! It turns out that Jonathan first
started building boats 15 years ago and has made a few before. Apparently it
runs in his family as his dad built boats too. The next challenge? A canoe!