Guillemot Night Heron: Stitch and Glue Construction  

Plans are supplied with full size pattern for the hull panels and frames.

This method of building boats use pre-cut plywood panels that are "stitched" together along their joints and then glued. The shape of the boat is determined by the shape of the panels. The 2 dimensional flat panels are bent when they are stitched along their curved edges to the adjoining panel. The shape of the curve between the adjoining panels determines the 3 dimensional shape of the finished boat. Stitch and glue boats can be build without forms although forms can help assure that the desired shape is acheived. 

Like the strip version of the Night Heron, this S&G version is at home out on the open water and exploring the shores of distant islands. As drawn, it has the exact same profile shape of the lower deck version of the strip-built Night Heron. As built it tends to track a little more stiffly due to a slight sharper "V" at the stem and stern. Due to the plywood construction this version has the more defined "hard" chine than the strip version. This makes the boat a little more responsive to edged turns. Otherwise the performance of the different version of the Night Herons are all quite similar.  

The "chine" on the foredeck provides clearance to keep your paddle stroke entry close to the boat while paddling with a high or low paddle angle. It also provides room where you need it for your knees and feet.

The picture above shows the "Puzzle Boat" configuration where instead of traditional scarfs joining the panels a puzzle shaped connection is used. This option is only available in the kit. If you are building from plans, you will want to use standard scarfs to make the long plywood panels.   

Get more detailed information, specifications and pictures here:

http://www.hobbyandmarine.co.za/uploaded/Stitch%20and%20Glue%20Night%20Heron.pdf

Number of Cockpits: 1