Granny Pram "Louise"
I have noticed from the site stats that a lot of the hits are from people searching for info on the Granny Pram by Ian Oughtred. So, I thought I would post a few more pictures and information about our dinghy, Louise.
We had a nice "knuckle sided" lapstrake pram dinghy that we built in the eighties but it was only big enough for two adults and two bags of groceries. We needed a bigger dinghy! After searching design catalogs and the internet we settled on the Granny Pram. It is big enough in the water to safely convey three people and a dog. It is small enough on land for two people to carry to the high-tide line. It fits in a pickup truck with the tailgate down.
Plans: We ordered the plans for the Granny Pram from Duck Flat Wooden Boats in Australia. The price of the plans seemed a little high as a percentage of the total cost but having tried my hand at boat design I am willing to pay for a professional product. We also bought Ian Oughtred's book "Clinker Plywood Boatbuilding Manual" for reference.
Building Louise: Not much to contribute, here. Flat bottom, glued lap sides. Read the book. We made up two dozen or so U shaped clamps out of scrap plywood for gluing the laps together. We used deck screws to assemble the jig. We chose Okume for the plywood parts. It is light and easy to work.
We built in generous buoyancy chambers fore and aft. The mast is stepped through the bow chamber but is isolated with a PVC pipe sleeve between the partners and the step. There is a drain so this does not fill up with water. The tops of the buoyancy chambers form seats. They are crowned and join the hull at the first lap below the shear. The stern seat is fine but the bow seat is too high and slopes up too much for comfort. If I were to build it again, I would make the bow seat horizontal at the cost of some fussy fitting to the hull.
All surfaces are sealed with epoxy (System Three). The bottom is fiberglassed, inside and out for abrasion resistance. We opted for a painted finish except for the bright yellow-cedar rowing thwart. I learned the hard way not to use Interlux Brightsides paint over new epoxy. It did not set up properly in the interior and I had to remove it with thinner and paper towels. After a year of use, the epoxy was inert and I was able to repaint.
After a false start on the knees at the rowing thwart, I left them out. This probably contributed to a cracked gunwale that I have yet to fix. At the bow I fitted a "uni-knee" across the top of the bow transom. This strengthens this part of the boat for butting ENETAI in following seas. I cushioned the bow with 3' of the fabric covered foam rubber sold to cushion dinghy rails. This stuff is expensive and heavy and goes on with lots of copper tacks. I didn't feel like doing the whole perimeter of the boat but I should have to protect Enetai's topsides from scuff marks.
Sailing: She sails well enough around an anchorage. We are happy to send our daughter out to explore. She and my wife did get into trouble one evening when the tide and the wind were going the same way, out the harbor. They went out and out and couldn't get back in despite tacking furiously back and forth across the channel. They ended up rowing back in the shallows outside the channel. We built the tall sailing rig for the boat. Sailrite designed and cut a sail kit for the lug sail. They are great to work with. We easily sewed it together on the living room floor. This is my first experience with a lug rig and I can't say I am happy with it. The mast is too long to lay in the boat and the sail is awkward to roll up around the yard and boom. I would like to remake the rig as a sprit rig; shorter mast, no halyard, no downhaul. Just the snotter to deal with.
Rowing: Being a little longer than your average dinghy, the Granny Pram rows a little faster. We do
have to load her properly, like this:
Trimmed bow down, she loses her directional stability and will "wipe out"
occasionally. Don't skimp on the skeg! We have homemade oars 7 feet long. there are two rowing
stations.
The Granny Pram is a great all-around dinghy. She has certainly worked out well for us.
